With a 3-hour running time, you need a hearty meal before being gondola'd away by Al Pacino and Lily Rabe to Shakespeare's Venice. So before you pound the pavement to see a "pound of flesh"...stop and dine at Times Square's best Italian kitchen: BOND 45.
Make a res for 5:45pm (6:45pm on Fridays and Saturdays) and say hello to XX at the door. (Tell him we sent you and he'll reward you at the end of the meal!)
Request a cozy red leather booth and start with their specialty artichokes (Roman-Jewish style of course!), the burratta (cream-filled mozzarella) is our personal fave, and the Straciatella chicken soup, proves that all that glitters is actually gold.
Choose your own pound of flesh for a main course--we recommend the Steak Milanese, yum!--and do Lily Rabe a solid and order creamed brocooli rabe on the side. She'll get you back with the perfomance of a lifetime.
Save room for dessert if you mentioned our name, but don't overdo it! You've only got a block-and-a-half walk to burn off those calories before curtain! (But do wrap a handful of candies in your napkin on the way out...you'll need them around Act 4.)
BOND 45 is on 45th, between 6th and 7th. MERCHANT OF VENICE is at the Broadhurst on 44th, between 7th and 8th, currently running through January 9, 2011.
