Parm

There ain't shit you can tell me about Americanized Italian food. I grew up close to Bensonhurst, a southern region in Brooklyn (south of Bay Ridge, get a compass asshole) which was home to the largest population of Italians in the borough. A lot of my friends were Italian, and since Italian food is way better than Russian food, I took every chance I had to eat at their houses so I could escape the endless bowls of borscht, dark black breads, and all pickled everything. Chicken parm, baked ziti, stuffed shells, steak pizzaiola, this is all shit I know well. Straight up, 100%, Americanized Italian food. I'm so official I pronounce capicola as "gabagool." So when I heard about a sandwich spot called Parm which was ran by the kings of the new school of Italian/American cooking, Rich Torissi and Mario Carbone, I needed to check it out. 

Parm is located in Little Italy on Mulberry Street right next to Torrisi, which is known for being a celebrity hangout with great food. I was praying that Amanda Bynes would walk out as I was walking into parm... she's my spirit animal. No such luck, and as I walked into Parm I was greeted by a drunk frat dude sipping his loneliness away at the bar - you know the type, pushing 32 and still rocking his class ring. As we walked past that fuck stick, we were greeted by a host and sat at table that looked like it was a 50's dinner. Didn't need to skim the menu, this is what we got: 

Meatball Parm ($12): Served on a toasted seeded sweet semolina bread, laid a meatball mix with beef, sausage, and veal topped with a mellow tangy tomato sauce, a thin layer of  fresh, creamy, salty mozzarella and a leaf of basil. If a porn star had a baby with a bag of money, these meatballs are  what would come of it. Hands down, the best meatball parm in Manhattan.

Mozzarella Sticks ($10): Why the fuck are you looking at me like that? It's fried motherfucking cheese, of course I ordered it. These weren't those Key Food mozzarella sticks your mom warmed up in the oven instead of deep frying them like someone with citizenship. The cheese was gooey and salty with a crispy fresh coating of bread crumbs, hints of parsley and parmigiana cheese. 

Chicken Parm ($12): Toasted, seeded, sweet semolina bread, thinly cut fried chicken, topped with sauce, fresh mozzarella and a basil leaf. Good, crunchy, juicy. But not better than the meatball parm.

Parm definitely delivered on all of the hype and more. I won't lie, I was a little bit skeptical when I heard that Torissi and Carbone's new spot "Carbone" was charging $48 for shrimp scampi. Like, come on, how good can it be? But now, Parm made me a believer and I'm ready to fork over $48 for a dish that usually costs $24.

Parm

248 Mulberry St  Manhattan, NY 10012

(212)993-7189