True. Sometimes You Just Want What You Want. [Vero, NYC]

Vero is a restaurant and wine bar. It’s got two locations in Manhattan (trust me, I went to both in the same night). Midtown East (53^rd and 2^nd ave) and the UES (2^nd Ave btw 77 and 78).

Well, anyway. The 53^rd St. location is a little newer and is pretty dimly lit which is perfect for a date, meeting friends for drinks…or screaming tourist who sing Bon Jovi or Journey (apparently).

So back to the actual destination here (focus! It’s only Thursday). Snazzy music in the vein of Gotan Project playing a pretty steady stream of your typical bar/loungey-type music. Candles on tables and what not. The argument that most people look better candlelit is probably valid and therefore this ambiance was appreciated.

After the slight transgression on the host’s part of trying to get me to squeeze in between two tables no more than 3” apart (I’m not that skinny), we sat down in the back corner table –enter singing tourists. Our waitress was amused and pleasant, though. Wine list is expectedly extensive—it is a wine bar, afterall—but the categories of “World red and white varietals” is a little silly (especially when you have an in-house second level sommelier). A mini-wine-dumping-ground after all of the larger categories are exhausted. The 2,200 wine cellar is pretty impressive for a small NYC bar, though. There’s a list of creative cocktails in the lineup, too. And being that it was a weeknight (Happy Tuesday, everyone!) I got the strawberry basil lemonade. Now, seriously, in Italy, this happens a lot but not as much in the US. Mixing fresh herbs and fruit in a drink is the shit. You have to try it sometime. This particular version was strawberry stoli, fresh basil, fresh strawberries and lemon peel all muddled up with a bit of lemon juice and soda. Good call, me.

So after messing around with my drink for a while, we start looking for some sustenance. My friend, Erik, has been to Vero uptown and has one thing on his mind: the Vero Pizza. After looking around, it’s not there. He asks, “Nope, not at this one. You gotta go uptown.”

“We’re going.” We are? I guess we are, so in the cab we go. Up about 20 blocks to the UES location. Same deal, a little smaller. Get a glass of rioja, sitting at the bar and order the Vero Pizza and meatballs.

OK. So, I can see why we came. It’s pretty good. Worth another cab ride? Debatable. Interesting take on pizza with a fontina cheese, prosciutto, roasted red peppers and a sundried tomato spread (instead of red sauce…a little too sweet). Came out as small triangular slices with a balsamic glaze—pretty presentation, and no worries about dropping cheese all over when you are separating a piece from a traditional pie. The meatballs were better, though, with a garlicky misto, stuffed with mozzarella. I have set the bar high since I’m 50% Italian and my Momma makes “the best” meatballs. They didn’t disappoint. The grilled ciabatta on the side could have been more grilled but I wasn’t interested in it anyway because I had a pizza to eat…

So, sometimes you just want what you want. Vero is a good concept with solid food and a really great bar. It’s not New Haven pizza so maybe not worth going out of your way for (i.e. from Brooklyn), but good little places if you’re in the neighborhood. It was a fun little chase up the east side to get a bite and a good glass of wine on a random weekday night.