Unfortunately for my waistline, I order pizza on the reg. It’s a weekend staple for me. I had never been to Gallery Pizza before on New Hyde Park Road in GC, but it was recommended highly by someone I consider to be a Garden City Insider.

I must admit that I had high hopes given the recommendation I received on Gallery. The staff were friendly and courteous (always a plus) and my pizza was ready fast. There was a nice blend of cheese and crust- not too thin and not too thick. And the tomato sauce was delish. There was also a good cheese to sauce ratio. Yum. The only thing I cannot talk about with confidence is the crust. There will have to be a side by side crust comparison between Giaccone’s (who touts “the best crust in town” in its slogan) and Gallery. I look forward to eating Gallery’s pizza again- everything else about their pie was spot-on.

As some of you Insiders may know, Inside Garden City is hosting a Fall Pizza Showdown where the winning pizza parlor will be voted “Best Garden City Pizza”, will receive publicity on Inside Garden City and the Garden City Patch, as well as a banner to proudly display in their store. The only requirement for a pizzeria to be entered is that it must be located in Garden City or deliver to Garden City.

If you haven’t been to Gallery Pizza before, you should definitely check it out as a pizza take out or delivery option.

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On Friday night, I had a longing to be in a trendy NYC restaurant with really good, eclectic food. Didn’t feel like hopping on the LIRR, so… where to go on short notice in Garden City? A friend had recently been to Plancha Tapas and Wine Bar on Franklin Ave in GC and told me it had what I was looking for. 

We sat at the bar (I would recommend sitting here when you go- if you’re just two or three people). We could have easily been in the West Village of NYC and after a couple of glasses of wine, maybe even Italy or Spain. We ordered some red wine and a Spanish board to share. On it were the most buttery olives I’ve ever eaten (even better than the farm fresh ones my dad smuggled through customs from Bari, Italy to NY on our last trip but that’s another story) plus cheese, meats, fruits, nuts, bread- So GOOD! 

The owner, Josh, was very gracious and helpful- explaining everything to us since it was our first time. He thoughtfully helped us choose our tapas plates as well as a fitting wine. Our tapas included croquettes, foie gras, cebada and smoked anchovies with mascarone on rustic bread- this in addition to our Spanish board. Check out Plancha’s Facebook page and see their awesome menu for yourself: Plancha Tapas and Wine Bar

			Plancha Tapas and Wine Bar Plancha Tapas and Wine Bar is a rustic European style tavern featuring a large selection of…
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They carried a nice selection of wines and the staff was happy to offer suggestions. You can also go there for brunch on Saturdays AND Sundays (I love when restaurants serve brunch on BOTH weekend days). Other nights, you may find live music or drink specials. If you’re looking for a place with a warm, trendy vibe and delicious food with some ethnic flair, go to Plancha. In my humble opinion, NYC has nothing on them. But you don’t have to take my word for it… Call and make a reservation or just sit at the bar. And enjoy.
516-246-9459. 931 Franklin Ave, GC.



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Ramona Lee Pastry Shop on Hempstead Turnpike in Franklin Square was recommended to me by a fellow GC resident. With no Italian bakery in the nabe, I checked it out back in March for St. Joseph’s Day Italian pastry- which were great. Then, as a self-declared procrastinator, I found myself scrambling on Easter Sunday when I realized I had forgotten about dessert! So I called Ramona’s.

Thankfully they were open and I dashed. Not only were they open on Easter Sunday afternoon but they had a surprisingly good amount of pastry and cakes on the shelves. It’s a good sign when a business brings it’s A game all the way to closing time… contrasted with a business that thinks it’s OK to close 5 minutes before their advertised closing time (a pet peeve). Of course, this usually happens on a day that you’re pulling into the parking lot 5 seconds before closing time after making a Dukes-of-Hazard-like effort to get there.

After selecting my pastry and cake, I was informed that they don’t take credit cards (small check for Ramona Lee in the negative column). Of course, I only had credit cards. When will I learn? Another customer stepped in and graciously offered to pay my $30 tab. I took her address to mail her a check, but Rose said she didn’t want me to pay her back. It was Easter after all and I should simply pay it forward.

I was touched by her generosity and texted Rose’s address to myself with a note to mail a check on Monday. Strangely enough on Monday morning, I mistakenly erased a ton of data in my phone. Of course I did. This couldn’t have had anything to do with user error, right??

After an hour on the phone with tech support, most of the data was restored except for all text messages I received on Sunday. Naturally. Sadly, Rose’s address was gone.

I called the bakery but they didn’t know her name. Facebook and Google turned up nothing. Where’s this internet-induced violation of privacy when you really need it? I only remembered the street and her first name. With that I drove to Franklin Square and asked the first person I saw on her street if she knew of Rose. Crazy enough, Rose happened to live in the house next door and was just getting home from work. With my debt paid and hugs and thank yous exchanged, I was off again.

While this doesn’t exactly qualify as the Easter version of  “It’s a Wonderful Life” this type of generosity did put me in the Easter spirit and provides another reason to keep Ramona Lee on the short list of bakeries near GC.

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Here’s a recent find just in time for Easter: T&F Pork Store & Italian Deli on Hempstead Turnpike in Franklin Square. It’s been family run since the ’70s and the steady flow of customers shows it’s still going strong.

When you walk into a deli and see various foods hanging from the ceiling- cheese, sausage, etc.., they’re usually fake. But at T&F Pork Store they’re real. There are bunches of homemade sausage and soppresata hanging everywhere and if you want one, they’ll just pull it down for you. They make their own right there in the store. We had a sample and it was delicious.

They also make their own homemade mozzarella cheese. When I asked John (one of the second generation owners) if he thought they’d run out on Easter, he said no way- they’ll be making over 200 of them! I’ll be sure to go back on Friday or Saturday for mine.

A traditional Italian Easter favorite that my dad sometimes makes is pizza rustica. This delicious pie is usually filled with eggs, ricotta cheese and diced meat. They carry it at T&F and it looked fantastic. I placed my order already so I’ll have one for Easter. As my dad says- a slice of pizza rustica with a glass of red wine makes a perfect meal. Pick one up for yourself, add a green salad and you’ve got dinner.

There’s also an array of Italian cookies, bread, olives, peppers, pasta, ravioli, tortellini, etc. You can just stop in there for a sandwich too. I ordered the “Fuhgeddaboudit” and let’s just say “forget about it”- it was awesome. 

T&F Pork Store is a rare gem. You might be able to find a place like this on Arthur Ave. in the Bronx, but Hoboken doesn’t even have a pork store/Italian deli like this anymore. And that’s saying something. I’ll certainly be adding this store to my list of local treasures. And you should too.

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Let’s put aside all the madness about college hoops for a minute. It’s time to get a proper pizza bracket going.

Those of you who’ve read my pizza posts know that I’ve been on the hunt for the best pizza in or near Garden City since I moved here. If you order pizza as often as I do (once a week), you start to become a little discriminating. There are some legendary spots of course- John’s of Greenwich Village, Patsy’s in East Harlem, Grimaldi’s under the Brooklyn Bridge, Lombardi’s in Little Italy and it would be a sacrilege if I didn’t go back to my roots and give a shout to Crosby’s in the Bronx- all of which various people would argue serve the perfect pizza. Not to mention, every pizza place on any random corner in Hoboken is pretty fab. Therefore, my tastebuds are a bit spoiled when it comes to pizza. Hence, my GC final four pizza search…

Seeing as it’s the weekend, you might be feeling a little bit lazy (I know I am), and possibly even making an imprint on your couch as I type. This is called “delivery time.” Moving from urban to suburban, I was very happy to see that there are plenty of food delivery options in GC. Actually, “Is there food delivery?” was one of the first questions I asked my realtor when we began our house search. If you’re like me, there are a few go-to delivery options that you continue to come back to time and again. Pizza is one of those staples for me. I order this on the reg.

This time, I followed the recommendation of a friend and tried Bella Rosa pizza on Jericho Turnpike in Garden City Park. This friend is a Brooklyn native, so I take her pizza suggestions very seriously. This picture does all the justice:

The pizza was a relatively thin, crispy pie- which is good in my book. Not too dough-y. Sauce was a touch on the sweet side- also a positive for me. Nice ratio of cheese to sauce. Friendly service and prompt delivery. If I had to criticize, I’d say the crust was a little bland, but overall Bella Rosa delivers a solid pie. Would I put it above Umberto’s (the GC majority’s favorite from my informal surveys)? Probably not. But it’s definitely good and does have a shot to end up in my Final Four.

Who’s in yours?

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It’s hard to resist purchasing more than what you came in for when you walk into La Bella Bakery on Covert Avenue in Franklin Square. When the delicious cookie-filled aroma welcomed me as I walked through the door on Sunday morning, I knew I was in for a treat. It’s a great no-frills place to stop in on the weekends and pick up some Italian cookies (I hear the regular chocolate chip cookies are very good too), cakes, pastry and the like…

Today the staff of La Bella tipped me off to their ever-popular donuts, which they say were a huge hit for Super Bowl Sunday this year. Donuts aren’t the first thing that come to mind when I think of Super Bowl Sunday but I’ll have to remember this tip and try it next year. It’s definitely easier for the kids to manage than cupcakes and I know the adults won’t refuse them either. Unfortunately, I got this donut tip after I already ordered my mini cannoli and crumb cake- both of which are deeelish, especially the crumb cake. It may very well be the best crumb cake I’ve yet to sample. The cannoli were filled on the spot, of course. No soggy shells here.

The woman behind the counter couldn’t stop raving about the jelly donuts in particular. She said they could turn a jelly donut hater into a jelly donut lover. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I’ve ever really experienced a good jelly donut, which is probably why I’ve never been a fan. But there’s no good reason why a good jelly donut should be so hard to find- it’s just fruit in a donut, right? So next time I venture in, it will be for the donuts and maybe I’ll be converted. Stay tuned…

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GC restaurant frequenters have probably been to Novita before. It’s located on the strip of Franklin Ave which is GC’s version of “restaurant row.” A perfect location to grab cocktails with friends.  

Novita had a lively bar scene when I was there on a recent Friday night with great music as well. Decor was upscale without being overdone. We had to wait at the bar for a bit for our table, even though we had a reservation (some kind of issue with their cell phone notification system). Whether this was intentional or not, their comprehensive wine list kept us busy while waiting. They had a really nice selection of French, Italian and California wines– you could pretty much find a bottle for any occasion. If you’re not up for wine, a glimpse of the drink menu showed an array of yummy-sounding martinis, like the Nutella or Limoncello martinis. Also a not-too-shabby beer menu- Magic Hat, New Castle, Dogfish and many more. Now, onto the food.

I must admit that I’m a bread girl who really appreciates good quality bread- thick and crusty on the outside with a soft interior… in case you were wondering. The Italian bread put out on the table was surprisingly good, however the waitress was unable to tell us which bakery it was from (even after some pleading). Having been spoiled by delicious bread in Hoboken, the Bronx and NYC and still on  the search for the same high quality bread in suburgatory, it may be worth a little more detective work to smoke out the source of Novita’s bread. I’m always a fan of olive oil on the table too- leave the butter behind.