Delmonico Steak Night and Oyster Shooters

About Town decided to indulge in a little red meat extravaganza after a day of working hard and working out. Where can one go for a steak on a Monday night that’s close to home, cheap and really good? How about In Napoli on lower Main St.? It’s no secret that About Town is a big fan of the food at In Napoli, and we’ve told you about their $19.95 Delmonico Steak Night, but believe it or not, we’ve never indulged in Delmonico Steak Night until this week.

The beginning of the week carries the aura of blah, especially during this time of year, so we decided to spice it up to make the getting to Friday easier. About Town invited friends to meet us for Delmonico Steak Night to make it really special and help dispel the February blah, blah, blahs.

Considering the night was cold and damp, and assuming people were still recovering from Super Bowl madness, About Town was surprised to see the restaurant crowded with people. There were few empty tables. It seems that we made the right choice coming here on a night such as this. After seating our group at a large table in the corner, the waiter started us off with a round of martinis (gin, a kiss of vermouth, and olives) and a big bowl of salad for the entire table.

Leading the conversation at the head of our round table was no other than Nelson Page, Chairman of the Fort Lee Film Commission, so it’s no accident that conversation turned to talk of the Oscars and the movies that have been nominated for an Academy Award. It seems that patrons at the surrounding tables were also movie buffs because soon people were pulling their chairs over to our table to talk film. The making of films may have moved out of Fort Lee, but the people of Fort Lee still know their films. However, there was one person who whined his way into our conversation who was a cross between Barnabas from the Laurel and Hardy Thanksgiving Day classic, March of the Wooden Soldiers, and Larry David. He was extremely…hmmm, what’s the word…annoying. Barnabas David had such a hold on About Town’s ear that we were tempted to just cut it off and leave it on the floor. After all, we have another one.  

As our waiter delivered another round of martinis we had the feeling we were at our own Algonquin Round Table with people elbowing in, talking film, books, and current events while gin splashed from glasses with every lift of the wrist.  

But back to the food: Delmonico steaks were being shuttled past our table at an incredible rate and it became tempting to just reach up and lift a plate from a passing tray. We didn’t, but temptation is a dangerous vice. We ordered our steak medium-rare (what did we say about vices?) but because we’re trying to maintain the Get Fit Challenge we did not order the potato or pasta side. Instead, we piled more of the salad onto our plate.

The Delmonico steak originated in the mid-19^th Century at the famous Delmonico’s Restaurant in lower New York City. However, no one recorded what type of steak was used so there has been much controversy about what cut of steak the Delmonico actually is. In Napoli’s Delmonico is cut from the Prime Rib. Our steak arrived steaming and lightly sizzling on the plate—a good sign that it did not sit in the kitchen waiting to be served.  Our server offered us a choice of either A-1 or Peter Luger steak sauce. The meat was so tender that we barely had to put any pressure on the steak knife to slice the steak. With the first bite we were in heaven. The steak had the right char-grilled texture, the perfect balance of salt and spices, and was prepared to a perfect medium-rare. The fact that the entire table was silent, contentedly eating our steak, is a testament to how good it was.

Instead of dessert, our lively group capped the night off with Oyster Shooters. “What is an Oyster Shooter?” you ask. It is a sublime mixture of vodka, Tabasco sauce, and a plump oyster in a shot glass that you drink in one shot, ergo Oyster Shooter.

In Napoli offers Delmonico Steak Night every Monday and Wednesday.  Careful, it can easily become a weekly winter habit. Here’s to our vices!