New Feature-- A review of Aces Restaurant

Aces

36th ave between 32nd and 33rd Street

You know, I am one of those eaters who likes a sweet pea flan as much as a Jack in the Box taco in the right circumstances. I appreciate food from both sides of the tracks, if you will, as long as someone has loved it just a little before it has been dropped on the plate that I eat it from. But I tell you this-- if someone has loved the food a lot, even if it has other flaws.... well then, I am forever in their thrall.

This is the case with the new Aces. Three sets of my friends had directed me here by the time I finally made it in. A bitterly cold Saturday night found me sitting at the bar, alone, and waiting a bit too long to be greeted and offered a drink. (who does a girl have to fuck around here to get a drink?!??!!) But the waitress in me could see that it was just a case of too many customers and one too few waiter types. Truthfully, it was all I could do not to just get up and help them with the room, but I refrained and was glad I did, because it now means that I get to go back and be "the nice lady who tips well" instead of "the impatient lady who had to jump in and waitress because she could not wait for that cocktail."

So, indeed my bartender did arrive, and graciously offered me a drink. I chose a glass of wine, something I realize now was not a mistake, but not my strongest decision. I should have had one of his cocktails. His meaning the bartender/owner, Miguel. The reason being is that he is a damn good bartender, and in a city this big we fall into a false sense of complacency thinking that surely most bartenders are good, but let me tell you straight-- they are NOT. A truly good bartender is almost too good to be true, and you should shower your money and affections on the few who come along. Subsequent visits have brought many Mojitos, and although I have strong feelings about making a bartender use so much fresh mint in the dead of winter, (out of season!!!!) I can get over them for this mojito. He loves that sucker like nobody's business, and you the lucky drinker are thus rewarded. Not only that, but his old fashioneds are damn good too. A drinker's paradise.

That night I ate an app of Risotto-- with Huitlacoche!!!! In Astoria. Dude, huitlacoche is a fungus that grows on corn in Mexico and is deeeelicious. It is also curiously not present at most restaurants save high end fussy in Manhattan. What a treat to have it here. Creamy risotto-- not too wet, not too dry, with mushrooms and that black funk. Oh yeah. I finished, happily, and slid off my barstool into the night.

In other visits, I have had the clams, cooked in a white wine, butter and chorizo broth that we loved so much we upended the bowl and drank it, (good thing we have no shame) and this fun take on the french frisee et lardons salad, this one with long leaves of Romaine lettuce, poached egg, lardons and a crema fresca dressing. Springy and bright, that salad, plus the added bonus is that after you have broken the egg and it has oozed all over the lettuce, you can use the leaves as a shovel and scoop up the bits of everything else with your hands. It seems uncouth, but truly it is genius. A late night dinner brought the butternut squash soup, a tad salty but good, a gorgeously marbled Ribeye with a rosemary scented jus and some potato puree, and a crusted skate wing with a little too much balsamic redux on the plate but plenty of love nonetheless. And, I would like to mention, I believe that the skate was only $15 and the ribeye $20. That is a steal no matter how you look at it.

So, go see these guys. Take a night off from dining in the glossy halls of manhattan and do a little business in your neighborhood. The drinks are well mixed, the food is simple and well prepared and there is love going on your plate and in your glass. You can get the best, most expensive ingredients in the world and the hottest customers and the best press, but at the end of the day, it is only the guys who truly care about feeding you that make the difference. Go go go to Aces!


Aces: 36th ave between 32nd and 33rd Street
Open 7 days a week for dinner only
Cash only for now.

Pros: food is excellent and off the beaten path. Fresh, well thought out menu with stuff you want to eat. Reasonable prices, large portions, GREAT bartender, owned and operated by people who truly care.

Cons; service can be a bit slow-- kitchen could tighten time between courses. This should improve over time.

Aces huh?

In this weeks Time Out NY they write a little sumthin on a local place that i have never head of! Oh the horror!!!! Now i must go investigate it, here's what they say:

Aces
The owners of this seductive little bistro hope to entice Astoria and Long Island City locals with creative cocktails (cigar-leaf mojitos) and Latin-accented dishes (mole-sauced short ribs). 32-07 36th Ave at 32nd St, Astoria, Queens (347-495-6991)

Why haven't i heard of this joint before? Does anyone know how long its been around? I need to set up a recon mission...

Astorian Weekend Edition 23.03.07

Friday night stop at the ATM and try out the new Island Cafe & Lounge (35-15 36th Street). It's brand new and helmed by Top Chef contestant Josie Smith-Malave. It's definitely a new kinda place for the hood; let's see how they do. If their $11 drinks scare you off, try out the huge fishbowl-sized caipirinhas at Time Cafe! (44-18 Broadway) For a mere $8, you'll be sipping for at least a half hour. Tasty indeed and such a cute space (see photo).

Saturday go window shopping or actual shopping at the coolest random item store around! It's Marco Polo Gift House (44-10 30th Ave) to the rescue for those hard to shop for friends and loved ones.
Hungry from shopping, catch an early dinner at Aces (32-07 36th Ave). I had the skate there and LOVED it. After dinner let your ears be entertained by our pal DJ Lo-Fi, he'll be spinning over at the always hip and happening Hellgate Social. Fun with the tunes and always no cover- just like we like it. Ladies, count on RightRides when your ready to go home. No more long and lonely (and sometimes scary) walks to the train/bus/cab

Sunday head north. Not too far north, but up towards the park. The Ultimate Frisbee season is officially here! Hooray for Spring :) Need a break after tossing the disk around, find your way over to Freeze Peach where a bunch of folks are having a book swap around 2pm. Bring a book or two and find yourself something new to read.

Happy New Year Astoria!

Last year we ended off '06 with a summary of Astoria's biggest ups and downs , it worked out so well we decided to bring you the key hits and misses of our Astorian Adventures, the 2007 edition: (in no particular order...)

• Go to spot for random movies & drinks- Hell Gate Social.
• Lil Bistro 33 became Bistro 33 in a new location and one of our all time favs.
• Le Petit Prince closed but to fill the void we got Patisserie la Brioche D'Or & La Marjolaine
• We became inundated with Mexican & Japanese restaurants
• The fires in Greece brought about action in the neighborhood
• 36th Ave became the place to be or its getting there anyway! (Aces, Cafe Triskell, Arepas Cafe & more)
  
• Meister-burger tastiest burger- Sparrow
  
• Architectural Horror- Castle Astoria & Alpha/Omega- hard to believe i know, but it's a TIE!!!
• Biggest treat - pie a la mode from Oleput
• Weirdest opening... 7/11?
• Quirkiest event at the BG - Harry & the Potters played for the muggles!
• Biggest brush with big stars was of course the return of Peter Parker to Queens with Spiderman week
• Strangest date spot became White Castle on Valentines Day!
• Alien vs. Predator? No! Wine vs. Beer - wine bars invade Astoria in 2007 (Crescent and Vine, Rest-Au-Rant, Vino di Vino)
• Astoria stepped into greener ways with the addition of Turbines in the East River
  
• JIA's new best friend: NY Magazine, who linked to us more than anyone else - thank you!
• Best and most varied wine tasting: Vine Wine. Runner up: Waltz, which held a number of wine tastings this year.
• Funnest place for little gifts: Marco Polo Gift House
  
• Best new restaurant has to be of course, Il Bambino. I seriously doubt you will ever hear a negative peep out of us! We love Darren and the gang, keep up the delicious work :)
  
• Most important friend to animals continues to be Francis's Friends- remember them if you're in a "donating" mood!
  
• Best place for free giveaway art was and is Silver Age Comics, which holds Free Comic Book Day every year
  
• Best place for free public art: Socrates Sculpture Park
• Best new crepes: Cafe Triskell
  
• Dumbest suggestion for Astoria had to be creating a parking lot over the Grand Central Parkway.
  
• The tastiest gyro to touch these lips all year were from BZ Grill
  
• Oddest crime committed in Astoria: Finger twisting
  
• Rose and Joe's continues to entice us with the tastiest Sicilian slice!
  
• Best non-bakery pizza: Sophia Loren at Michael Angelo's

So there you have it, some good- some not so good, but all ours! We hope you have had a wonderful year here in our lovely nabe and that you continue to take advantage of all Astoria has to offer in 2008. Have a happy and a healthy wherever you may be and see you around hopefully!

Time to VOTE...for food

Do what's right my peeps, log on to Time Out NY's Eat Out Awards and help our local favs reign supreme!
If you haven't tried them yet, there's still time! Go out today and sample some fine food for the greater good of Astoria. 3, that's right 3 of the 5 are places right here in our little neck of the woods. Here are the contenders:

Best new Queens restaurant

• *Aces
• *Il Bambino
• Jade Eatery & Lounge
• *Ovelia
• Quaint

Still need convincing? here are pictures from all three places and a few others from my flickr account. Can you tell i like food, just a little?