This was a week of full-circle moments — coming home from Tampa to a grill full of garden herbs, ducking into a new NYC lunch spot between meetings, and finally getting the in-laws over for a rainy-day Italian feast. It ended, fittingly, with burgers by the pool and the World Cup final on in the background. Some weeks are quiet. This one had a little bit of everything: garden basil, garlic butter, family, and a trophy on the line.
Monday: Home from Tampa, Grilled Pesto Parmesan Chicken
Monday eased us back into real life after the Tampa trip — thankfully from the comfort of a work-from-home day. Lunch was simple, a burger and a hot dog, nothing to write home about. Dinner, though, made up for it in full.
I marinated chicken in olive oil, lemon, garlic, and oregano straight from the garden, then grilled it up and finished it with a nut-free, dairy-free pesto, freshly grated parmesan, and a bit more lemon. The sides leaned into the same theme: parmesan red potatoes and lemon-parmesan grilled zucchini, with a scatter of fresh basil on top to close it out. It was the kind of dinner that reminds you why cooking with what’s actually growing outside your door still feels a little bit like magic.
Tuesday: Eataly Gelato, Then Quattro Pazzi with My Wife
Tuesday was back to NYC, and lunch was catered for a meeting — unfortunately, not a highlight. Between meetings I managed to sneak out just long enough for gelato at Eataly, which has become something of a reliable little reset button on busy office days.
By evening I met my wife at Quattro Pazzi in Fairfield, and this is where the week really turned Italian. We started with spicy garlic shrimp, and I ordered what might be my new favorite cocktail, a Paper Plane. For dinner, she had the penne vodka with chicken, and I went with the cavatelli Marco Polo — sun-dried tomato, chicken, and broccoli rabe. Simple, well-balanced, and exactly the kind of meal that makes a Tuesday feel like a small occasion.
📍 Quattro Pazzi | 1599 Post Rd, Fairfield, CT 06824 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Wednesday: Garlic Butter Wine Sauce at Home
Wednesday was a simple, satisfying night in. I cooked up penne and grilled chicken, then built a garlic butter wine sauce with Calabrian peppers and broccoli. It’s one of those dinners that comes together quickly but still tastes like it took real effort — the kind of sauce that makes the whole kitchen smell like it’s earned its keep.
Thursday: A New NYC Lunch Spot, Il Brigante
Thursday was back in the city, and since I knew dinner would just be leftovers, I decided to make lunch count. I walked over to Il Brigante, a spot I hadn’t tried before, and it turned out to be a great little find. I ordered the Farfalle alla Campagnola — bowtie pasta sautéed with broccoli di rape, sweet Italian sausage, and sun-dried tomatoes in a white wine and garlic sauce. It leaned close to Wednesday’s dinner in flavor, which made for a nice bit of continuity through the week, even if it wasn’t intentional.
📍 Il Brigante | 214 Front St, New York, NY 10038 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Friday: A 3-Pound Flank Steak from Shaggy Coos
We’d picked up a huge three-pound flank steak from Shaggy Coos Farm earlier in the week, and it finally finished thawing by Friday. Grilled it up alongside roasted potatoes and steamed green beans — an easy, satisfying end to the workweek that didn’t need much dressing up. Farm-sourced meat has a way of doing most of the work itself.
Saturday: Uncle Giuseppe’s, Homemade Sauce, and Family Around the Table
Saturday was the big day. It had been a while since we’d had the in-laws over, and a rainy Saturday felt like the perfect excuse to cook a full Italian meal indoors.
Before the rain rolled in, we made the trip up to Uncle Giuseppe’s Marketplace in Yorktown Heights, a spot that’s had a lot of buzz lately. It was a fun outing, though honestly a bit overpriced for items I can find closer to home at DeCicco’s, Caraluzzi’s, or Fresh Market. A nice one-time visit, but probably not a regular stop.
Groceries in hand, we went all in: spaghetti and meatballs in homemade sauce, gluten-free chicken cutlets, arancini rice balls, and mozzarella fritta — both excellent. I picked up whipped burrata to top a cherry, peach, and arugula salad, which turned out to be a standout of the night. Cannoli chocolate chip cookies and fresh baked bread rounded out a genuinely full table.
📍 Uncle Giuseppe’s Marketplace | 327 Downing Dr, Yorktown Heights, NY 10598 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Sunday: Leftovers, Pool Day, and the World Cup Final
Sunday started easy, with leftovers from Saturday’s feast for lunch. Then we headed to my sister-in-law’s pool for the afternoon — burgers and sausages on the grill, with the World Cup final playing in the background. Spain and Argentina put on a great match, with Spain coming out on top. It was a fitting way to close out both the week and the weekend: good food, good company, and a little sport to tie a bow on it.
Closing Reflection
This week moved between two worlds — the quiet rhythm of home cooking with garden herbs and farm-sourced meat, and the livelier pull of a new lunch spot, a Tuesday date night, and a full house on Saturday. Nothing was overly complicated, but there was a real thread of intention running through it: cooking with what’s fresh, trying something new when the chance came up, and making sure the people who matter were around the table when it counted.