by Andrew Mellman » Thu May 25, 2017 4:11 pm
We ate there the other night.
It’s very attractive looking. Although only the downstairs was open, evidently the upstairs is a tad more formal (white tablecloths) and the downstairs (across from the bar) more casual. It’s a very nice casual look, although the bare walls and ceiling make for a noisy space! I should note that we felt “out of it” – everyone coming in appeared to know each other, and each new group entering worked the hall before sitting down; only we knew no one else, yet we received the same level of top service as everyone else.
Although they have been open about a month, they are training a full complement of wait staff – we had “trainees” at bussing and serving positions along with trainers. Rocco himself was there overseeing all, along with a manager.
For the first course the octopus was tender and delicious, and a tad less expensive than indicated on-line. Their version of Caprese was salty for us (we do not use salt at home), but fresh and tasty. Although no wines by the glass were indicated on the menu, they do have two whites and two reds; we tried both whites and one red, and I found all very “mild”, more appropriate for those wanting an easy light drink than for a true connoisseur looking to match food (for whom there is a mid-sized list with varying price levels).
My wife and I had the Pappardelle pasta with shrimp and a pistachio sauce as a pasta course. It was possibly our favorite dish of the night, although not what we had expected! There was the correct amount of sauce (sticking to the fresh pasta, the exact amount to offer full flavor). It was quite rich (more than we had expected), as the sauce appeared to have a lot of cream and/or butter, but since the pasta was not “swimming” in it the sauce was not overpowering but worked perfectly while accenting the rock shrimp. The secondi was veal, pounded and lightly breaded, covered with ham, cheese, and served alongside garlic spinach; this was delicious, again very lightly sauced and cooked very well with a good blend of flavors.
As Jessica noted, the tiramisu was outstanding, and incredibly light. We fought over it, while our friends who had ordered the chocolate cake topped with whipped cream discovered it was more like a slice of heavenly mousse, and just as good!
We will be back, although the dinner was NOT inexpensive (we were taken out, so I don’t know the total price).
Andrew Mellman