PARM
Here’s a little not-so-secret secret of mine. I heart Parm (yes, insert like 700 heart emojis, kind of love). Years ago, my friend introduced it to me and I’ve been obsessed with their eggplant parmesan hero ever since. In two ways, I’ve felt like how I assume a person addicted to cigarettes feels, you know always always craving and then buying their same brand without the option ever crossing their mind of another even existing. You see, every time I’ve walked through the windowed door at their Upper West Side location, I knew what I was ordering. There wasn’t a question in my mind. The eggplant parm hero was why I was there. It’s what I’ve been itching for and my craving was about to be satiated. It gets worse, I stopped getting eggplant parm heroes anywhere else. If I plan to go to a movie on the Upper West Side, part of that plan is to stop at Parm, grab my eggplant parm hero to-go, stuff it in my purse and sneak it into the theater. Oh, I’m proud. I consider it one of my best moves ever! So, you get the idea.
Recently, I was invited into Parm. When they offered to bring out a bunch of dishes on the menu, naturally my only request was that amongst those dishes be my amazing eggplant parm hero. I’m not entirely sure why I was surprised, but everything was amazing! Every single dish that came out, sandwich, pasta, appetizer or side was of the same caliber as my beloved eggplant parm hero! Talk about hero, now I know that if I’m hungry/borderline hangry and roaming around uptown, downtown and now in Brooklyn, Parm is there to save me! I seriously advise you to do the same.
Their Penne Pomodoro is simply executed and incredibly rich, flavorful and indulgent. It’s not often that I order such a simple dish, but after having it, I highly recommend that if you feel you’re like me, you change and order it. When you do, add on an order of their crispy delicious calamari that’s served with chunks of peppers and, in case it wasn’t a no-brainer, their mozzarella sticks. Go big and if there’s anything left over, go home (with it)!
