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2 Amys, Wisconsin Ave. and Macomb Street - Great Wine, Small Plates, Pizza, and Desserts - No Longer DOCG Pizza, but Who Cares?


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I'm thinking of going to 2Amys for dinner tomorrow night (Saturday) for the first time and since a lot of y'all seem to have eaten here a lot I wanted to ask a few questions:

  • It seems like almost everything is good but for a first time patron what would be the must orders?  *Seems like anchovies for sure from this thread, specials generally seem strong and I definitely want to try two pies.
  • Does it make a difference sitting at the wine bar versus the main dining area?
  • How long is the wait typically on a Saturday?  I'm thinking of going on the earlier side and maybe having a drink nearby while waiting. 
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5 hours ago, FranklinDubya said:

I'm thinking of going to 2Amys for dinner tomorrow night (Saturday) for the first time and since a lot of y'all seem to have eaten here a lot I wanted to ask a few questions:

  • It seems like almost everything is good but for a first time patron what would be the must orders?  *Seems like anchovies for sure from this thread, specials generally seem strong and I definitely want to try two pies.
  • Does it make a difference sitting at the wine bar versus the main dining area?
  • How long is the wait typically on a Saturday?  I'm thinking of going on the earlier side and maybe having a drink nearby while waiting. 

With the anchovies, you don't need a separate order of bread. Unless you're *really* discerning, save yourself a buck and stick with the Sicilian Anchovies.

Be careful not to order every single thing cold, and with olive oil - it's possible to oil yourself to death here (and I often do).

Sitting at the bar isn't the most comfortable thing in the world, but you can point and ask - the bar-servers are always extremely knowledgeable and helpful. Sometimes, the daily menu will have things with exclamation points after the names (!) - I've found that these are items that the cooks are really proud of, but they don't always translate into diner bliss (see my previous review). 

Do try a dessert - even something as innocuous-sounding as "ice cream" can be wonderful.

If you get a pizza, I vote for the Norcia (salami and peppers), well-done, but you may not want a pizza.

You should go with the intention of returning, and not try and "do it all" on one visit. I don't know if I've said this here before, but like Swan Oyster Depot in San Francisco, this might not be the meal you want on your 40th birthday; but it might be the meal you want on the last day of your life.

Unless you go before, what, 5:30? There really is no place to have a drink - I would go and sit at the bar, as early as you can get there. You can comfortably stay at the low-end of the wine list here - they're all good.

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2 hours ago, FranklinDubya said:

I'm thinking of going to 2Amys for dinner tomorrow night (Saturday) for the first time and since a lot of y'all seem to have eaten here a lot I wanted to ask a few questions:

  • It seems like almost everything is good but for a first time patron what would be the must orders?  *Seems like anchovies for sure from this thread, specials generally seem strong and I definitely want to try two pies.
  • Does it make a difference sitting at the wine bar versus the main dining area?
  • How long is the wait typically on a Saturday?  I'm thinking of going on the earlier side and maybe having a drink nearby while waiting. 

Will you be on your own?  If a party of one or two definitely sit at the bar.  

Anchovies.  A well-done Norcia is a good idea -- as is the sausage/artichoke special pizza, if it's still on tomorrow night.  The fava bean crostini, if it's still on menu tomorrow.  The pio tosini legato prosciutto.  There will be porchetta--get it if there are two or more of you.  These three items tonight all sound good--but might not be on the list tomorrow:  Sicilian style cara cara orange and anchovy salad/braised artichoke with minty green sauce and lightly aged pipe dreams goat cheese/gently pickled cucumbers with local honey comb and sheep ricotta.  A combination of vanilla and blackberry chocolate chip ice cream.

 

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2 Amy's was hopping last night.  Dishes getting 86ed by 7:45pm.  But it was good to back at the bar.  I went with:

Sicilian anchovies with bread and butter (of course)

Smoked salmon and cucumber salad on toasted bread with goat cheese and meyer lemon.  Excellent dish.

Green and white asparagus with mustardy dressing, crouton, and pecorino gran cru.  The asparagus were excellent, the dressing could have been a little more mustardy/kicky.

Capicolo cotto tonnato, sous vide pork shoulder, sliced thin, like a cold cut, served on top of a tonnato sauce and accompanied by arugula, a medium boiled egg and anchovy. A touch of salt and a touch of acid, and this would have been truly excellent.  It was just missing that final pop.

Sicilian meatballs, almonds, cinnamon, a good sized portion of about 15 small meatballs, this could have easily feed 3 people as an appetizer course.  The meatballs were a little dry and dense, but good flavor from the tomato sauce.

2 Amys ancovies bread.jpg

pork shoulder and tonnato.jpg

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Dinner here a few weeks ago marked a couple of firsts for us, both good (porchetta) and bad (less-than-friendly/attentive service). Thankfully the latter didn't detract from the meal much. This is one of the few places in town that's always been a hit with our kids.

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Mother's Day lunch was great on Sunday at 2 Amys. 3 excellent pizzas for the Mom and kids - all classics - 1 margherita and 2 2 Amys. I went with the non-pizza courses - excellent burrata (although my wife thought it was too runny with cream), a special of bread crumb stuffed sardines on thin slivers of oranges (very good), and off the regular menu a huge portion of sweet and sour caponata. I was very happy indeed. Also great rhubarb chocolate chip ice cream. 

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A couple of tasty tasty items at the back bar last night:

raw porcini salad with pecorino, lemon, chives; country style chicken terrine; caponata; oven roasted spring onions wrapped in prosciutto; and Sicilian anchovies with bread and butter.

2 Amys Chicken Terrine.jpg

2 Amys Onions.jpg

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A bit of an up and down night at 2 Amy's on a Tuesday.

The highlights included the Polpettine al forno (meatballs) from the regular menu, the Scottish salmon crudo with ginger, and the fried anchovy bones, as well as the Sicilian anchovies with bread and butter (of course).  The Escalivada with olives and onions wasn't that exciting and Roma bean salad with lemon and pecorino was bland.  The chickpeas roasted with sungolds, garlic, and spices served with sheep ricotta had a lovely sauce  from the sungolds and the sheep ricotta is always delicious, but basically it was a plate of cooked chickpeas.

2 Amys meatballs2.jpg

2 Amys Salmon Crudo.jpg

2 Amys Anchovy Bones.jpg

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1 minute ago, frogprince said:

Ups and downs aside, y’all should be exceptionally happy that 2 Amy’s exists; we ain’t got nothing like it down here and that is a downright shame.

2 Amy’s is the best around (till Frank shows back up...)

I adore and treasure 2 Amys--we're there several times a month--but the suggestion that we should feel sorry for those of you down in the Crescent City, well . . . .  😉 

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45 minutes ago, Marty L. said:

I adore and treasure 2 Amys--we're there several times a month--but the suggestion that we should feel sorry for those of you down in the Crescent City, well . . . .  😉 

I was gonna say something snarky, along the lines of “well, man can’t live on crawfish and boudin and etoufee and gumbo and po boys and bread pudding and Pontchatoula strawberries and meat pies and bbq shrimp and crab meat Yvonne and hot tamales and yak a mein and cochon de lait and...” 

oh wait...

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3 minutes ago, frogprince said:

I was gonna say something snarky, along the lines of “well, man can’t live on crawfish and boudin and etoufee and gumbo and po boys and bread pudding and Pontchatoula strawberries and meat pies and bbq shrimp and crab meat Yvonne and hot tamales and yak a mein and cochon de lait and...” 

oh wait...

Where should I try yak a mein next time I'm in NoLa?

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Enjoyable night at the bar last week.  I would say the panino of the day should be given serious consideration.  It's been an overlooked part of our ordering and now cursing myself that it was not ordered when they were doing soft shells crabs.  Lately they have been serving sourdough with 2 Amy's mortadella, mustard, pickled onions, frisee, and hard boiled egg.

Also enjoyed the rabbit done in the style of porchetta.

2 Amys Panino.jpg

2 Amy's Rabbit.jpg

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1 hour ago, Tweaked said:

Enjoyable night at the bar last week.  I would say the panino of the day should be given serious consideration.  It's been an overlooked part of our ordering and now cursing myself that it was not ordered when they were doing soft shells crabs.  Lately they have been serving sourdough with 2 Amy's mortadella, mustard, pickled onions, frisee, and hard boiled egg.

Also enjoyed the rabbit done in the style of porchetta.

2 Amys Panino.jpg

2 Amy's Rabbit.jpg

Why on earth anyone would choose (other than for religious or medical reasons) not to order the soft-shell sandwich is inexplicable.

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Due to holidays etc it had been a while since sitting at the back bar at 2 Amy's.  The Serenity Now menu was very nice last night.

Excellent oven roasted mussels with garlic, butter, parsley and breadcrumbs.  

A delicious nervetti salad (beef tendon) with toasted bread.

Guinea hen, pretending to be capon, cooked like they do in Mantova, served with tardivo was also very good.

And then we went all in...14 day dry aged 230g tenderloin from a 7 year old dairy cow, served with marrow fat beans and roasted romanesco.  I'm not a big steak guy, but damn that was good, lovely salty outer crust, extremely rare on the inside.  The 150 day dry aged 900g bone-in ribeye looked insane.

We also had the Sicilian anchovies, salt cod fritters, sheep's milk ricotta with a beet-apple-celery salad, and Seville orange chiffon ice cream for dessert. 

Miguel and Tammy were working the bar area and were as lovely as always. 

A bad photo of the steak: 

2 Amys Cow.jpg

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17 hours ago, Marty L. said:

2Amys is closed.  As are Etto, Thip Khao and Hanumanh.  Two or three weeks from now there might be few decent spots still open.

The bigger question is who will survive to re-open. I hate to think how really tiny mom and pops with perhaps less than standard accounting might fare trying to get grants/loans. The cash economy is real even if our government thinks it doesn't or should be stomped out.

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We got a takeout feast from 2Amys last night. Porchetta sandwich, bean salad, anchovies, two pizzas, and sorbet. Everything was delicious and traveled well. We re-crisped the pizza in the oven when we were ready to eat. A bit of a schlep for us as well but well worth the effort. 

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My neighbor and I have continued our monthly 2 Amy's dinners.  Instead of saddling up to the back bar, we now bundle up and eat out on our building's patio.    

The 2 Amy's online ordering system is easy to use and most orders are ready within about 20 minutes.  2 Amy's has a table set up in their front door vestibule, a staff member takes your name and then hands you your order.  You don't enter the restaurant space.  All easy, low contact, and streamlined.

Unfortunately, their menu is also more streamlined these days and understandibly many of the wine bar daily specials are no longer offered.  However, there is still plenty of good eating to be had.

We almost always go with an order of the Suppli a Telefono (fried risotto balls).  These stay crisp and warm, even after a 20 minute walk home.  Last night they offered their excellent Piggy Croquettes.  Another good order is the Caponata.  Finally we always get the Sicilian Anchovies (one note here:  the butter they provide is always rock hard and doesn't have a chance to soften in the cold weather, so we now use our own butter).  We always order an extra container of the Green Sauce.

We have experimented with various pizzas and stuffed pizzas.  The Etna 2.0 has worked the best for take out.  We now order the NoAmys and add toppings.  Last night's combo was onion, rapini, olives, grana, smoked mozzerella, red pepper flakes.  Pretty darn tasty.  But, the pizzas suffer the most from not coming straight out of the oven, we might have to try re-heating.  

Finally, a shout out to the cannoli (2 per order).  The shell is crisp and airy and the ricotta zippy with candied grapefruit.  If I was going to whack someone, I'd defintely remember to take the cannoli (Sorry Paulie). 

 

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2 Amy's is requiring proof of vaccination for dine-in.  I believe proof is not needed for outdoor patio seating.  We showed our credentials at the door and saddled up to the wine bar.

The star of the night:  Josiah's Brother-in-law's grilled veal chop (8oz) with grilled rapini, fresh shells beans, lemon.  Pricy at $27 but damn was it tasty.    

Veal Chop.jpg

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A return to the back bar crime scene and I feel like 2 Amys is getting its mojo back.  The daily specials are getting more adventurous with a bigger selection.

Last night we enjoyed the always classic Sicilian anchovies with bread and butter; the also classic fried salt cod croquettes; Japanese sea bream crudo; chanterelle mushroom crostino; tortilla Espanola with shishito peppers and aioli; oven roasted mussels with bread crumbs, garlic, butter, and parsley; and shaved matsutake mushrooms with pecorino, celery leaves, and lemon.  Not bad for a Tuesday night.     

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I feel like 2 Amy's has been stepping up its game in recent weeks, especially with the wine bar menu.  

We arrived at 6:45 last night and they were already out of the pork jowl, vitello tonnato, and tripe salad.  Yet we were still able to stuff ourselves with torta espanola with aioli, monkfish liver on toast with watercress salad, the little piggy croquettes with green sauce, tardivo alla romana, and of course the anchovies with bread and butter...and a pizza.  

But I really wanted to try the pork jowl and tripe salad!

(to be fair, the pork jowl was also on the menu on Monday so they may have had limited quantities on Tuesday)

 

PS - They almost always have some cut of the aged beef cooked Tuscan style on the wine bar menu these days.  Last night there were three cuts are various price points (can't remember the exact details)  

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Back at the bar and some good eating last night:

Mussels escabeche with potato chips:  huge plump mussels, steamed and then marinated in a mix of olive oil, house made vinegar and paprika.  And the potato chips are always good.  

A nice plate of braised artichokes and fava beans served with the always delicious sheep's milk ricotta.

Finocchi alla giudia:  Apparently this is known as brasied fennel Jewish style, and is pretty much a fennel and garlic gratin.  (As a general rule, any dish listed in Italian on the wine bar menu is worth investigating)

No Amys Pizza with smoked mozzella, lamb sausage, capers, garlic, grana, and extra olive oil, cooked well done.   

We also saw them carve up a massive 46oz 90-day dry aged bone in ribeye, looked rediculously delicious.  

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6 hours ago, Ericandblueboy said:

Is it like ankimo or something completely different? And what are the chances it's still on the menu tomorrow?  I don't see it on their website but I don't think they update website right?

I've never had ankimo, so I have no idea.  This tasted very much like foie gras.  We got it with some bread and basically smeared it on the bread.  

They have been promoting it for the past couple of days.  So I'm guessing it will be on the menu until it's gone.  Best to give them a call.

Their website is not updated with the daily specials.

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2 hours ago, Tweaked said:

I've never had ankimo, so I have no idea.  This tasted very much like foie gras.  We got it with some bread and basically smeared it on the bread.  

They have been promoting it for the past couple of days.  So I'm guessing it will be on the menu until it's gone.  Best to give them a call.

Their website is not updated with the daily specials.

It was on the menu tonight -- but 86'd just minutes before I arrived!

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