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<\/a>(L to R) Chef Matteo, server Andy, and captain Andrea, in front of Mamo. Love those Italian men! Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n
And, seriously, the food and ambience matched the service.\u00a0 (By the way–this time we didn\u2019t limit our admiration to the males<\/em>\u2014we loved Ursula, the hostess, equally.\u00a0 She was so pleasant, and as professional as she was all along, at the end we ladies enjoyed some good pajama party-type laughs.)<\/p>\n Sheila deemed Mamo, which is in the Soho neighborhood, \u201cvery European,\u201d an assessment I totally agree with. It\u2019s also the classiest eatery I\u2019ve been to in New York City for quite awhile. The whole ambience has a peace to it.<\/p>\n Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n On the brick walls, movie posters of old Italian films lend an authenticity of culture to the enterprise. And Sheila made note of the large drum lights, which beautifully diffuse the lighting. No wonder a steady stream of customers, many of them continental, showed-up until after 10PM on a plain Sunday night!<\/p>\n For what to order, I definitely recommend listening to the servers\u2019 suggestions.\u00a0 Several of these guys are really<\/em> Italian, (like the very pleasant captain, Andrea,) and know Chef Matteo\u2019s cooking inside and out.\u00a0 You know that I always march to my own drummer, and in food, especially, I\u2019m usually sure of exactly what I want.\u00a0 But our very knowledgable waiter, Andy, really knew his stuff, so I was happy to hear him out.\u00a0 We were thrilled that we listened to him.\u00a0 Everything we ordered was at his<\/em> suggestion, (except for my veal chop milanese entree, the ordering of which he just reinforced.) [Note: he also highly recommended the lasagne bolognese, which is what I<\/em> would have chosen, as well, but we just could not eat that much.]<\/p>\n Pizza Margherita. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n We began with the margherita pizza. After one bite, we both simultaneously declared it to be \u201cheavenly.\u201d\u00a0 It was sunglasses-good, which only one other pizza in the world is to me.\u00a0 (To enjoy Brooklyn\u2019s Spumoni Garden pizza, I have to put my hair back, close my eyes, and wear sunglasses.\u00a0 And no one is allowed to talk. Mamo\u2019s pizza deserves that same treatment.)\u00a0 Sheila said that the \u201ccheese is significant, because it\u2019s a different-for-pizza French cheese.\u201d\u00a0 She is correct\u2014this is the only Pizza Margherita I\u2019ve ever seen that features cantal<\/em> cheese.\u00a0 That really does make it extra-yummy.<\/p>\n We had a conundrum as to what to order for the salad course, but Andy made the perfect suggestion.\u00a0 Since the capri salad we were considering isn\u2019t very different, (though I have a feeling it\u2019s also delicious,) he told us to try the antipasti salad instead.\u00a0 While they both feature my favorite cheese\u2014burrata\u2014this one comes with it atop a bed of cooked vegetables, including carrots and potatoes.\u00a0 It\u2019s finished with bagnacauda, which is a very light anchovy sauce.\u00a0 I\u2019m not a fan of those tiny fish, but in this case, they just added a tiny bit of salty taste; we would not have had even a hint that it was made from anchovies, had we not seen it written on the menu.\u00a0 Sheila said the sauce was \u201cthe best\u201d she ever had, and that the veggies were \u201cbeyond crisply tender.\u201d (Even though \u201ccrisp\u201d and \u201ctender\u201d are usually opposites in cooking methods, I understood exactly what she meant.)\u00a0 We both went wild for this dish!<\/p>\n The burrata and cooked veggie salad. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n Since there were just the two of us, we really could have quit\u00a0there, and been thrilled with the meal, (which included a lovely bread-and-grissini plate.) But their entrees looked so appealing that we just had to plug on.<\/p>\n At Andy\u2019s suggestion, Sheila went with the unusual halibut, which was baked in paper.\u00a0 (The menu stated, \u201cbaked in foil<\/em>,\u201d but it appeared to us to be parchment paper.) She loved the truffle sauce, which she said was \u201ca luxury.\u201d<\/p>\n The meat choices were not the norm, which we appreciated.\u00a0 But, since I don\u2019t eat rabbit leg, veal kidney, or red meat, I went with the veal chop milanese.\u00a0 (They also serve a very high-end Wagyu burger, which features fresh truffles, foie gras, and gravy!\u00a0 An upscale meat lover\u2019s fantasy!) \u00a0 The milanese is veal that\u2019s pounded very thin, breaded, and fried, with a salad on top.\u00a0 It\u2019s one of my favorite dishes when made with chicken, but this is the first time I had tasted it with veal. It\u2019s a wonderful compromise between a thick, juicy chop and a true Italian dish, and is always satisfying.<\/p>\n (Clockwise, from left) French fries, halibut, spinach, veal milanese. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n My veal came with a hearty portion of super-crispy fries, and we ordered stir-fried spinach as a side dish. The creative presentation of them, in thin-lined copper pots,\u00a0was definitely a highlight of the meal!\u00a0 Sheila pointed-out that the candlelight on the table enhanced the \u201cauthentic look\u201d of the pans.<\/p>\n I always have to try a dessert, and Andy said they don\u2019t have a written menu of them because they\u2019re \u201cever-changing.\u201d\u00a0 He said it\u2019s \u201csort-of a surprise effect.\u201d\u00a0 I love that analysis!\u00a0 That night, they were serving a delicious and creamy strawberry-adorned chocolate mousse cake, which we both enjoyed. If we had had the energy after that beautiful meal, we might have even fought over it.<\/p>\n The only thing we missed-out on was it being one of our birthdays\u2014the entire staff brings out a slice of cake while singing \u201cHappy Birthday.\u201d Their voices are indeed lacking, but their warm wishes are definitely not<\/em>. That bestowal was really fun to behold. So, I guess that I\u2019ll just have to pay another visit to NYC, and Mamo, come January 14! So, get those voices ready, signori!<\/p>\n 323 W. Broadway, New York \u00a0646-964-4641 \u00a0www.mamonyc.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" MAMO When people ask me how I can be a restaurant critic while eating limited foods, I always explain that I\u2019m not a food critic.\u00a0 Rather, I review the entire dining experience.\u00a0 And my joke is that, as long as a place has cute waiters, they\u2019ll get a good review.\u00a0 If that is my true<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>