There is nothing like a good glass of red wine, accompanying a nice dinner. Although I am not the biggest wine connoisseur, I like to have a glass of red wine now and then, either just while relaxing, with dinner or with a nice cheese. I read some books about wine, tried quite some different ones and I always try to learn something from my dad in this field.

Through a recommendation of my roommate's friend we heard about this Italian restaurant called 'In Vino', located in East Village, NYC. We had a very nice dinner with fresh pasta,  some wine, espresso and their homemade Tiramisu..what more could you ask for?

Webpage: Click here

Type of Place: This Italian restaurant is serving all kinds of typical Italian dishes. It is a rather small place, very cosy and friendly though, so be sure to make a reservation to avoid waiting times. Waiters are very attentive, relaxed and happy to answer all your questions - they seem to know all the answers (and I usually have a lot - typical 'girls ordering at a restaurant'-thing I'd say ;)). You can enjoy your meal in a cave-like location with candlelight atmosphere and with nice but simple decoration, cosy tables and mural-walls. I enjoyed it very much and could have stayed here even longer than we did (I think it was about 2-3hours).

Food: The menu offers creative appetizers such as bruschetta with mushrooms, red wine and truffle oil, pasta such as porcini Ravioli in a truffle cream sauce and secondi such as roasted pork loin with blueberry compote (I am getting very hungry right now!). The basket of bread and the olive oil we got before our food came was good, I really liked the intense taste of the oil which you don't meet very often here in NYC. I ordered the truffle ravioli and I loved them! Portions are normal I'd say but I could have eaten more, because they were so delicious. The porcini tasted fresh and were still crisp, not cooked for too long. The pasta was al dente and the creamy truffle sauce wasn't too intense, but the taste of truffle was there, perfectly matching the taste of the porcini.

I also tried the homemade pork and lamb lasagna with béchamel sauce, which was a dream, too and next time I am going there I will definitely order it. The mix of lamb and pork was great, with the lamb not being too intensive (even though I really like lamb) and the pasta tasting very fresh and soft in a good way. After this we ordered Espresso and Tiramisu; it was slightly different than the ones I know (or prepare), being very light and fluffy and containing only a hint of coffee rather than too much.

Click here for Menu 'In Vino'

Wine: This restaurant specializes on wines and was named the top 100 wine list in the US by the opentable diner's choice award. We had a red wine from Piemonte, which I liked very much, thanks to the advice of the nice waitress.

Prices: It is slightly more expensive than the other places I posted on my blog, but I think around $16 for Pasta and $24 for a main course is still ok, especially when everything is freshly prepared and it tastes so good!! Bottles of wine are around $40 the cheapest ones, which is expensive I'd say, but nothing extraordinary for NYC.

Location: 215 E 4th St, New York, NY 10009

Sorry for poor quality of pictures.