mozzarella

New York City Mozzarella Bar Introduces Missing Link

Filed under: Dining

Nothing beats sitting down with the fresh mozzarella and pasta fare available at Obika, the midtown Manhattan mozzarella bar. Rather than disrupt your perfect city Saturday by scarfing down the heavily tourist fare available within striking distance of the shop's location on E. 56th Street and Madison Avenue, you can amble into the public atrium at the IBM Building and enjoy bufala at its finest.

The only thing missing has been a great glass of wine to accompany it. Well, the good news is that it won't be a problem anymore.

Anthony Fauci, managing partner of Obika's New York location, told me over the weekend that the restaurant has just received its liquor license, and that the libations are flowing. The offering is so new that the wine menu hasn't even been published on the Obika website yet, though Fauci tells me to expect options from Campagnia, Veneto,Tuscany and Puglia, not to mention "a few surprises." For now, the only way to find out is to head over and order a glass with your dish. I'm hoping to get there within the next few days.

Gallery: Obika: Mozzarella Bar in Manhattan

Fresh bufala is flown in three times a week

Even without a chef, the creations are delicious

Tags: food, manhattan, mozzarella, MozzarellaCheese, new york city

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Bufala Break: A Bite at Obika on Madison Avenue

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining, Luxury Travel & Hotels

Toting shopping bags up and down Manhattan's Madison Avenue can become tiring. After wearing out your elbow signing credit card slips, you'll find yourself with a daunting appetite, and you'll want to take care of it without deviating from your upscale excursion. There aren't many dining options, and most will lead you to a side street where the fare is mundane at best -- it's Midtown, after all. You can keep your luxury momentum going without having to trot far from your fashion binge at Obika, a mozzarella bar on the corner of Madison Ave and E. 56th Street.

The setting may strike you as strange -- nobody would expect to find a chic establishment in the IBM building's public atrium. Well, you'll have to suspend disbelief for a moment, because the bufala that awaits you is worth it. Popular with the local business crowd because it's easy to get in and out while still indulging, managing partner Anthony tells me that he sees plenty of visitors to New York come through.

Gallery: Obika: Mozzarella Bar in Manhattan

Tags: cheese, dining, food, madison ave, Madison Avenue, manhattan, mozzarella, MozzarellaCheese, new york, new york city, new york city restaurants, prosciutto

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Obika gets into the cigar event game

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Cigars

To look at this small Manhattan eatery, you'd never make the connection. Tucked in the atrium of the IBM building on the corner of Madison Avenue and E 56th Street, Obika seems like just another dine-and-dash joint to service the suited masses within a three-block radius. To judge this shop on a glance alone, however, would be a grievous error. In reality, its clientele consists of a mix of ardent regulars and tourists (mostly from Europe) who are committed to the magic made at this mozzarella bar. The customers' zeal was evident by their presence alone on May 21, 2009, when Obika catered the latest De La Concha cigar dinner.

Anthony Fauci, a partner in the restaurant, represented Obika at the cigar event, held in the store where he and his brother, James, have been regulars for as long as anyone can remember. In a new twist on what has become a regular occurrence for the Manhattan tobacconist, Obika provided a mozzarella and pasta tasting menu designed to complement the Camacho cigars featured.

The event was standing room only, as Obika took over the shop – lining the counters for food preparation and consumption. Instead of opting for traditional sit-down meals, store general manager Ron Melendi opted for a more fluid approach, in which guests could stand, sit at a boardroom style table at the front of the store or eat on available counters.

Gallery: Obika, Camacho and De La Concha