Thanks to waves of immigrants, New York has always been a center of great Italian food — full of charming, if not particularly innovative, establishments where traditional fare reigns. But until the mid-1980s, the really upscale New York restaurants were invariably French or continental.
That began to change when the young Danny Meyer, who has since become one of the most inventive restaurateurs the city has ever seen, opened the Union Square Cafe, which brought a stylish approach to service (casual but correct) and new flair to Italian cooking. Others followed — one thinks of Lidia Bastianich’s charming Felidia on East 58th Street, and Tony May’s San Domenico on Central Park South. Italian eventually trumped French, and it was with real sadness that I watched one great Gallic restaurant after another close: Lutèce, La Côte Basque and La Caravelle, with only the extra-ordinary La Grenouille remaining.
Italian restaurants of all kinds opened, some better than others, but the next real splash came in 1998 when Mario Batali and partner Joe Bastianich (Lidia’s son) opened Babbo in what had been one of the city’s most beloved restaurants, the Coach House on Waverly Place in Greenwich Village. The cooking was inventive and generous, and was epitomized by a single dish: the rich beef-cheek ravioli with squab and black truffle, which is still on the menu today. They followed with another triumph, the more formal Del Posto, in late 2005.
Meanwhile, the past couple of years have been especially full of exciting new Italian openings. My favorites are on the following pages.
Chef Andrew Carmellini opened A Voce and caused a sensation. He went on to debut Locanda Verde in The Greenwich Hotel, and just recently opened The Dutch (serving contemporary American food) in SoHo. Taking over from him at A Voce, chef Missy Robbins has made her own mark, especially with the opening of a sister restaurant at the Time Warner Center on Columbus Circle, a sleek space with fabulous views over the circle’s ring of fountains and Central Park beyond. At our most recent meal there, I particularly liked the squid-ink pasta, followed by a beautifully sautéed branzini, skin wonderfully crisp, with heirloom tomatoes and a tangy caper pesto. I have to say that as much as I like both iterations of A Voce, they share the drawback of being incredibly noisy.
41 Madison Avenue at 26th Street. Tel. (212) 545-8555.
Danny Meyer fulfilled a long-held desire to create his own take on a Roman trattoria in late 2009 with the opening of Maialino, which has become one of my favorite restaurants in New York. The lively front bar area is particularly good for lunch, but I also enjoy the back end of the main dining room. Chef Nick Anderer knows exactly what he is doing: The starter of fried artichokes with an anchovy bread sauce is so good that I reflexively order it; the tonnarelli with pecorino and pepper is just as difficult to pass on; and if it’s on the menu, the roasted suckling pig is unforgettable.
2 Lexington Avenue at 21st Street in the Gramercy Park Hotel. Tel. (212) 777-2410.
When Tony May closed his restaurant San Domenico, chef Michael White appropriated the space for his Italian seafood restaurant, Marea. I have found it to be one of the most stylish, grown-up places in the city. Make time to have a drink at the stunning backlit onyx bar before heading into the dining room for antipasti such as the squid stuffed with salt cod accompanied by grilled polenta, capers, pine nuts and cherry tomatoes; superb pastas such as the memorable spaghetti with crab, Santa Barbara sea urchin and basil; and the main fish dishes — the herb-crusted Alaskan halibut with broccoli rabe, sopressata, porcini mushrooms and cipollini onions being a fine example.
240 Central Park South. Tel. (212) 582-5100.
White’s latest effort, Ai Fiori, is the best new restaurant to open in the city in the past year. Large sprays of flowers add an air of romance to a handsome room that offers the comforts of space and a low noise level. White shows his skills in dishes such as the luscious Trofie Nero, Ligurian-style squid’s ink pasta, with a pleasantly tangy ragout of squid and scallops. The equally outstanding main courses may include Dover sole with beurre noisette (hazelnut butter), lemon and parsley, or an outstanding veal chop with an imaginative garnish of sweetbread-stuffed cabbage.
400 Fifth Avenue in The Setai hotel. Tel. (212) 613-8660.
After he closed San Domenico, Tony May didn’t leave the New York restaurant scene, for which I am thankful. His new restaurant, SD26, is a wonderful space with a big, open bar-café in the front that leads to a dramatic, high-ceilinged main dining room and a theatrical open kitchen. When May opened San Domenico in 1988, he caused a sensation with an appetizer of a single raviolo filled with a quail’s egg and truffles, which went for the astonishing price of $40! Today, there is a more gently priced variation consisting of a generous handcrafted raviolo stuffed with an egg yolk and truffle butter, which I could not resist. My other favorite dish from a recent meal was the superb olive oil-poached cod in a dry Martini sauce with heirloom carrots and scallions.
19 East 26th Street at the north end of Madison Square Park. Tel. (212) 265-5959.
Amid all the innovation on New York’s Italian restaurant scene, I wanted to return to a touchstone that has long been a favorite of mine and of many others, Il Mulino. A small and charming, indeed, romantic, place with white linen and a rose at each table, Il Mulino harks back to a gentler era, with courtly waiters in white bow ties and black jackets who are intent on making you happy. And I was very happy at my latest meal. Even before we ordered, plates of fried zucchini and salumi, a basket of excellent bread and a hefty chunk of Parmesan were whisked to our table. With some perseverance, we left room for the real meal, the highlights of which were fried zucchini blossoms stuffed with ricotta, and a rich dish of thinly sliced veal tenderloin sautéed in a mushroom-wine sauce. I found it all very comforting and congenial, right down to the complimentary glass of house-made grappa at the end. One caution: Ask for prices if you are considering any of the many specials — they can be much more expensive than items on the regular menu.
86 Third Street. Tel. (212) 673-3783.
Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich went in a new direction just a year ago with Eataly, an extraordinary super-emporium devoted to the foods of Italy, with a dizzying array of cheeses, meats, pastas — dry and fresh — fish, olive oils, breads, sweets, coffee, housewares, books and, in a separate but adjacent shop, more than 700 Italian wines. Eataly has 12 dining venues that make up a gastronomic grand tour of the country’s cuisine, my favorite being La Piazza, where you can stand at a table and imagine — without much effort — that you are in Italy.
200 Fifth Avenue. Tel. (212) 229-2560.
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