Parm

About six months ago I tried to go to Parm in Nolita.  Parm doesn't take reservations and the host said it would be about a 45 minute wait.  The problem is, there's no bar area or bar alternative nearby to kill time.  I was hungry and figured I could suffer the 45 minutes...Until 45 minutes became an 1 hour, and then over an hour.  I had to call it quits when another restaurant I had wanted to try, located down the street, had availability (see review of Balabousta, http://forthefoodieinallofus.blogspot.com/2012/04/balaboosta.html).

Despite this initial disappointment, Parm persevered on my list.  The perfect opportunity presented itself to finally dine at Parm, a 2:30 lunch.  No chance there could be a wait (or significant wait) for a table at 2:30.  Upon arrival, I was seated immediately (even without my dining companion present).

Parm is a brilliant concept.  Italian American (as opposed to authentic Italian) food, served fresh, with high end ingredients and in moderately sized portions.  Most Italian American restaurants in NYC (and all over the US) serve over fried, over battered, frozen chicken cutlets, or flavorless tomato sauce out of a can, in bulk portions to the masses.  Parm succeeds where so many restaurants in Little Italy fail.

The ambiance at Parm is 50's diner chic, but the best part is the doo wop music playing in the background.

What to Eat:

Start with the Baked Ziti.  There is an option to get a side of "Meat Gravy", which is a hearty, beef Bologna sauce.  Unless your a vegetarian, order the ziti with meat gravy.  The browned ziti noodles are layered with a homemade marinara sauce and then topped with huge dollops of fresh ricotta.  I'd love to get my hands on this recipe.

The main reason I tried Parm is to confirm the rumor that Parm served the best chicken parmigiana in NYC.  Rumors confirmed readers.  Parm offers the chicken parm on a small roll, a medium sized hero or a platter (the platter includes a salad or ziti).  Unknown fun fact about me: Chicken Parm Heros are one of my 5 favorite foods.  The problem is, most of them are greasy, over breaded, have average bread, etc...I found none of these issues at Parm.  Parm's chicken hero contained layers of thick slices of lightly breaded white meat, sweet marinara sauce, and fresh mozzarella.  One word: perfection.  It's a good thing they don't deliver.






It is hard to save room for dessert at Parm but find a way readers.  The dessert special was apple cinnamon zeppoles, which I was considering until the waiter brought out a slice of a diner's Peppermint Patty Ice Cream cake.  That's right, Parm serves a different homemade ice cream cake every night.  As someone raised on Baskin Robbin's Ice Cream cake, I could barely contain my excitement.  The ice cream cake was layered with spearmint ice cream, mint ice cream and chocolate ice cream.  Each layer was separated by cookie crumbs and the cake was topped with candy cane crumbs.  The server recommending getting a bit of each layer on your fork, which was a great call.  The different chocolate and mint flavors together were incredible.

Willing to wait (forever) for a table?  Parm will make it worth your while,

Your foodie friend

Insider tip:  Do not go during usual dining hours unless you are willing to wait about an hour. Go for an early/late lunch or dinner to avoid the crowds.