Menu from Cozza Osteria and Enoteca

Only open for lunch right now. The hostess said they will open for dinner around the first of February when they get the liquor license finalized

Cozza Lunch

Insalata
Antipasta Salad-with proscuitto ham, homemade mozzerella, roasted red peppers, olives, pepperocini and garlic croutons - 8

Caesar Basilica-hearts of romaine, fresh basil, marinated tomatoes, parmesan reggiano chesse, polenta croutons-7

Cozza Mixed Green Salad-mixed greens, hothouse cucumbers, portabella mushrooms and candied garlic vinaigrette-6

Zuppa
Smoked Gouda, Roasted Red Pepper and Garlic Bisque-5

Pancetta Corn Chowder-5

Lunch Entrees
Chicken Modena-Sauteed breast of chicken with capers, mushrooms, spinach, olives and balsamic glazed tomato sauce over rigatoni-7

Chicken & Gulf Shrimp Mari Monte-Breast of chicken served with Gulf shrimp, fresh rosemary, white wine, lemon and tomato concasue(sic) tossed with fettuccine-8

Chicken Au Four-Local free range breast of chicken, parmesan crusted with prosciutto, spinach and pomodora sauce with fresh mozzarella and smoked gouda cheeses-8

Fresh Salmon Piccatta-with lemon, capers, artichoke hearts and wilted greens-8

Fennel Roasted Organic Pork Loin-Wrapped in prosciutto with green bean, roasted garlic confit and pork porcini jus-8

Beef Bolognese-Plum tomato meat sauce tossed with rigatoni pasta with ricotta dollop-7

Seared Petite New York Strip-with fried polenta cake, garlic greens and balsamic reduction-10

Grandma Cozza's Meatballs-with fettuccini-7

Rigatoni Pomodoro-with fresh made San Marzano plum tomato sauce, fresh basil and homeade mozzerella-7

Fettuccini Carbonara-with pecrino(sic) romano cream and smoked Italian bacon-8 (Add shrimp for 2)

Dessert
Chocolate Lava Brownie-with homeade vanilla gelato

Lemon Almond Cheesecake-with cinnamon whipped cream

Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee

Thanks for posting. I'm bummed it's another Italian place with only one vegetarian friendly entree but whatever.

Good luck to the owner..

[Robin Garr]

Looks good, Dan, and thanks for posting.

If you don't mind my asking, did you copy that from Email or type it in? There's a surprising number of spelling errors in the Italian names, which seems kind of surprising in an Italian place.

It looks good, though. I'm eager to get over there and check it out.

I noticed that while I was typing it as well....I typed it verbatum off the copy of the menu I was handed as I was leaving from lunch this afternoon. Should I have put a "sic' by every mistake I caught? I tend to use a lot of "creative spelling" myself at times, but for a printed menu for a new establishment with the advent of spell check, it seems like one of the details that has slipped though the cracks. I enjoyed my lunch though.

OOOPS..A couple of those WERE my mistakes However, I noted a couple of big ones they made that were obvious when I edited my post.

[Robin Garr]

Should I have put a "sic' by every mistake I caught? I tend to use a lot of "creative spelling" myself at times,

No, not at all, Dan. And I really hope I didn't come across as critical. You did a super job of informing the forum about this place that has raised a lot of curiosity.

I was just interested, frankly, that if the mistakes came from the restaurant, a place that's been billed as very authentic Italian, it would be odd to get so many "American" spellings for Italian food words.

The proof of the pudding will be in the eating, though, not the menu spelling.

Spelling aside, Al is the real deal in the kitchen. I got to enjoy his food many times at the Speakeasy and he knows his stuff when it comes to making a great dish no matter how you spell it. Originally from Brooklyn (which is about as close to Italy as you can get), he has an incredible resume. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.anc ... di%27s.htm

[Robin Garr]

Originally from Brooklyn (which is about as close to Italy as you can get)

Ermmm ...

Point noted about Al's skills, though, Tim. I look forward to dining at his place.

I meant gastronomically, not geographically, of course. Brooklyn has a large Italian community (ever seen Moonstruck? That bakery where Nicholas Cage worked in the movie was a real place) and the food reflects it, depending on the neighborhood, of course. The mom-and-pop butchers, pizza places, delis and bakeries. Coffee shops roasting their beans. Restaurants with no menus, you walk in and they tell you what they have that day (maybe because they didn't know English well?).

[Robin Garr]

I meant gastronomically, not geographically, of course. Brooklyn has a large Italian community (ever seen Moonstruck? That bakery where Nicholas Cage worked in the movie was a real place) and the food reflects it, depending on the neighborhood, of course. The mom-and-pop butchers, pizza places, delis and bakeries. Coffee shops roasting their beans. Restaurants with no menus, you walk in and they tell you what they have that day (maybe because they didn't know English well?).

Tim, I knew what you meant, and I really meant no offense by my snarky comment. But let me put it this way: I have lived in Outer Boroughs NYC (Queens, not Brooklyn, but similar concept, Astoria, a neighborhood that was Italian before it was Greek and still has a strong Italian presence). We also got around Cobble Hill in Brooklyn and other Italian neighborhoods because I'm very interested in Italian food and culture.

Separately, I've also been lucky enough to have the opportunity to travel in Italy a lot. Mostly in the Northern parts (from Rome to the North) rather than the southern regions and Sicily where most American immigrants came from.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I love Italian food from Italy, and I love family-style Italian-immigrant food in the US. But the latter is really rooted in Ellis Island days and has evolved some distance away from Italian cuisine, especially the regions in the north (which "Northern Italian" restaurants in the US generally don't capture either, because they don't pick up the diversity that separates Piemonte from Tuscany, Lombardia, the Veneto, Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia and so on. "New York Italian" and "Italian Italian" are both great, but they're so different that saying "Brooklyn is as close as you can get to Italy" kind of made me chuckle.

No offense meant, and I hope none taken. But now I'm more curious than ever to see where Cozza really falls on the Italian food spectrum.

Just a suggestion (which has been mentioned in other posts):

When starting a new post about a restaurant, could you please put in an address (or at least general area of town) for those of us who might have missed other posts? It sounds interesting, but where is it?

"I'm more curious than ever to see where Cozza really falls on the Italian food spectrum"

Much closer to Brooklyn than the Boot in my opinion. The food I had seemed lacking in the simplicity, balance and restraint that characterizes what is really great about the food in Italy.