"It’s hard for me to imagine how they could improve."
Semi-Anonymous Restaurant Critic on pizza.
Hello everyone. This is the first time that Feed Me is being sent from the Shelter Island ferry. My weekend plans include reading Madeline Cash’s new book, Lost Lambs, and planning a party with the TBPN guys on a one-week timeline (if you have a Manhattan mansion that you’d like to offer to us plus 200 close friends, hit my email).
Today’s letter includes:
’s latest restaurant review (excellent pizza), a new film photo booth in Williamsburg, Sydney Sweeney is great for business, we’re getting a Balthazar documentary from an NYU grad, and more proof of the proliferation of scam culture.📱 Have a story you think I should look into? Text the anonymous Feed Me Hotline: (646) 494-3916 📱
Expense Account is a series on Feed Me, written by semi-anonymous restaurant critic J Lee. In this column, you’ll be reading about Business Guy Restaurants — the bistros, sushi spots and lounges that are best rationalized with the involvement of a corporate card. In his last column, he critiqued The New York Times’ Top 100 list.
Now that Ops has opened a second location in the East Village, I honestly don’t know if I’ll ever go back to Bushwick, the home of the original Ops (the oasis known as SAA doesn't count). There’s nothing there for me that I can’t get on Uber Eats. I don’t go to the club like that, the tacos are all mid, I’m too old; they hate me there.
I don’t like to write about pizza, I’ll leave that to Luke from the Times, but I will talk about Ops to anyone who will listen. I do it all the time. I almost can’t talk about restaurants in New York without bringing up Ops. I’d be happy to eat at Ops any night of the week, it's nearly a perfect restaurant to me. Terrific pizza, a great salad, some antipasti, a very photogenic and delicious mortadella pie, and a perfect slice of chocolate cake. What else could you want? Are you so greedy? It’s honestly hard for me to imagine how they could improve.
“The Ops salad is the platonic ideal of a salad. (I ate at Via Carota after eating at Ops, their salad does not hit the same and their fritto misto is pedestrian, by comparison. That place is ran through. Washed. A story for another day, or the comments).“
Well, I’m here to report that the new Ops is an improvement! Their Second Avenue space is larger, but not too large, and keeps the aesthetic charms of the Bushwick original. A familiar wooden banquet wraps around the main dining space, but now there’s a longer bar area. The menu is also larger, but not too large. The cocktail list has been expanded and so has their list of pizzas. And they do lasagna now. (Spoiler alert: it’s delicious.)
The thing about Ops is that the menu is so well designed that you can order anything and you can never really fuck it up: the mark of a great restaurant, IMHO. I wanted to experience something I hadn’t had at the original restaurant, so we ordered suppli, the Ops salad, fritto misto, cianfotta, lasagna, and two of their new “Tavernetta” pizzas: Pissaladiere and Hawaiian.
You have to start with the suppli, little fried rice balls stuffed with cheese. Get two orders, you will not regret it. The fritto misto is also delightful. Surprise: there’s no squid in this misto, and you won’t miss it. Just big shrimps and fresh white fish, one of the best mistos in a city chock full of frittos. Cianfotta is a summer vegetable stew in a tomato base, kind of like a ratatouille. Soulful and sexy with fresh basil and a side of sourdough. I’ll try my best to cook this at home and will never come close.
The Ops salad is the platonic ideal of a salad. (I ate at Via Carota after eating at Ops, their salad does not hit the same and their fritto misto is pedestrian, by comparison. That place is ran through. Washed. A story for another day, or the comments). The greens are crispy and fresh; they care deeply about these greens and you can tell. Topped with some kind of olive powder, or something (it was black, salty, and delicious, I didn't ask).
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