NYC :: Dinner at La Birreria

For our first night in NYC, we decided to eat at the roof-top restaurant La Birreria at Eataly. La Birreria is located on the 14th floor of the building that houses Eataly. Here, you can get roof-top brewed beer of the highest quality as well as high quality food, while sitting under the stars and skyline. Birreria collaborated with Dogfish Head, Baladin and Birra Del Borgo to create, rather brew, unfiltered, unpasteurized and naturally carbonated ales, within a few feet from where you are sitting, eating and drinking. The menu harkens a family style feast influenced by Austria and Germany, calling for beer braised pork shoulder (which, is amazing by the way!), meats and cheese. 

We waited by the bar and had some drinks, while waiting for our table to be called. Our friend, Duane, Sarah's hubby from A Passport is a Girl's Best Friend, was very excited to try the beers that were made in collaboration with Dogfish Head.

Here are the list of beer they have on draft: (list taken from Eataly-NYC site: here)

Toast! We have here the Dogfish Head 61 Minute in a flute glass.
Doesn't the color look amazing?

• Dogfish Head Festina Peche, Berliner-Weisse with peach, 4.5% ABV
• Dogfish Head Theobroma, Ancient Ale with cocoa nibs, honey and chili, 9% ABV
• Dogfish Head 61 Minute, American IPA with Syrah grape must, 6.5% ABV
• Lurisia Sei, Belgian Pale Ale, 6% ABV
• Del Ducato, Baciami Lipsia, Gose with Himalayan pink salt and coriander, 4.2% ABV
• Victory Hop Devil Nitro, Americna IPA, 6.7% ABV
• Peekskill Hop Common, California Common with Nugget and Cascade hops, 5.2% ABV
• Greenport Harbor Harbor Ale, American Pale Ale, 5.3% ABV
• Kelso Nut Brown Lager, Euro Dark Lager, 5.75% ABV
• Peroni Nastro Azzurro, Euro Blonde Lager, 5.1% ABV

Formaggi and Salumi

For appetizers, we ordered some formaggi and salumi (cheese and meat). The cheese is served alongside some hazelnut honey, which just gave the flavor of the cheese that extra oomph! We had the asiago fresco, ricotta fresca and the provolone (not sure about the last one). As far as the meats, we ordered the Affettati Misti ($21), which is the selection of all meats from prosciutto to salami to coppa. Doesn't it look amazingly good?

As for the main courses, we got the following:

Tagliata de Manzo

Tagliata de Manzo is steak served with cabbages and mixed radishes. Steak is always a great idea. 

Agnello

Agnello is grilled lamb belly served alongside roasted eggplant, red onions and green pesto. Yum!

Maiale alla Birra

Maiale alla Birra is beer-braised pork shoulder and glazed with apricot and served alongside celery root and apples in a mustard vinaigrette. The meat was very tender and melted in your mouth.

As far as food and drinks go, everything was great. Everything tasted fresh and of high quality. Aside from food and great company, New York welcomed us with great weather, especially during dinner time. Since it was a clear night, they retracted the roof and let us enjoy the nighttime view of the New York skyline and Empire State building and stars. If you are ever in New York, definitely give this place a try.

Food: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Drinks: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Company: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

La Birreria is located at Fifth Avenue and 23rd Street in New York City, roof-top deck, in the Flat-Iron District, overlooking Madison Square Gardens. They are open: Sunday to Wednesday, 11:30am to 11pm (kitchen closes at 10pm) and Thursday to Saturday, 11:30am to 1am (kitchen closes at midnight).

For a copy of the dinner menu, see here.