Category: Italian

When you’ve been dating someone for a long time, and especially if you live together, it can be hard to remember to keep the romance alive. Between work and friends and Facebook, it seems like date night is the first thing to fall by the wayside. I am no more evolved in this department than anyone else; I’m ashamed to admit that more than a couple of Friday nights have seen me and my boyfriend choosing Netflix over braving the bar scene. But when we do go out, I’m prepared. There’s nothing worse than being stuck wandering the avenue looking for a place that isn’t so empty it’s awkward, doesn’t have garish lighting or loud/awful music playing, is informal enough that you can be comfortable and talk loudly after you’ve had a few, but is just a shade nicer than a pizza joint. Without a plan, this kind of hellish restaurant searching can go on for hours, and nothing kills the mood more than this kind of frustration. That’s why it’s good to know a handful of surefire date-friendly restaurants, so that whether you’re eating out with your husband of twenty years or out on a first date, you can appear both knowledgeable and spontaneous as you suggest a delightful little place you know right around the corner.

One of these standbys for me is Park Slope’s Sotto Voce. You can usually get a seat, they serve Brunch, and they serve perfectly decent Italian comfort food in a modern, casual-elegant setting. The restaurant escapes the usual pitfalls of date restaurants, i.e. being overly pricey, embarrassingly quiet and intimate, or being so trendy and overexposed that only obnoxious yuppies go there. That said, the restaurant has its share of problems. The waiters, though friendly, are often neglectful of their tables in my experience, and this really becomes a problem during Brunch, when endless refills of mimosas become one refill if you’re lucky. The problem may be under-staffing or poor management, but they should get it under control. I take the words “All You Can Drink” very seriously.

On a romantic night out, however, lax service doesn’t really bother me. Frankly, I’m more annoyed by the vulture-like hovering a lot of Manhattan waiters do, most likely in an effort to get you out the door faster and keep the tips coming. And the food at Sotto Voce is good enough to compensate, for the most part. Many of the Italian restaurants I’ve been to in New York suffer from a general blandness in their menu items, but with the exception of a handful of crowd pleasing dishes that could stand to be kicked up a notch, Sotto Voce manages to escape this fate. I like to start by sharing one of their gourmet salads, like the Insalata Tre Colori (arugula, endive and radicchio with grilled Portobello mushroom, served with toasted goat cheese bruschetta), with my beau, as an alternative to a boring dinner salad.

I usually stick to pasta for dinner, though the meat and fish dishes look divine. The Rigatoni Montanaro,
with Shitake mushrooms, onions and arugula in a Brandy Cream Sauce, is a rich and satisfying meatless option, while some of the best carnivorous pasta dishes include the decadent Fettuccine con Pollo e Funghi (homemade fettuccini with chicken, mushrooms and fresh rosemary in a cream sauce) and the Fettuccine al Sugo di Anatra(homemade fettuccine in a country duck ragu with black olives and tomatoes). You’ll leave with leftovers, but pasta is one of the best next-day foods there is, so no worries.

After a date at Sotto Voce, I always leave feeling a little bit lighter than air. Maybe it’s the red wine or the old-world smells of the kitchen, but Italian restaurants always do this to me, and perhaps you know the feeling. You become Lady and the Tramp for a second, and all the world is singing you a love song. Then, inevitably, a bum will flash you or something and the moment will be ruined, but it’s those little moments that make love happen, and if there’s one thing the world needs more of, it’s love.

There are plenty of perfectly wonderful restaurants, bars and cafés in New York and the surrounding boroughs, but it is the rare establishment that can combine all three. That's why Bar Toto has been, and remains, a Park Slope mainstay. The mostly-Italian eatery is a great place to take your friends for a girls' night out, due to the place's lively café attitude, but it's an equally good date destination, with candlelit tables and ever-flowing wine making for a downright romantic setting. Most importantly, you can sit here for hours, over coffee, food, drinks and conversation, and in true Italian fashion, it won't be frowned upon by the wait staff.

The place has the appearance of a European sidewalk café from the outside, especially between April and September or so, when Bar Toto's outdoor seating becomes a hot commodity. The interior, with its pressed-tin ceiling and antique knick-knacks, feels like something straight out of 1960's Rome (if you ignore the lack of smoke clouds and Vespas parked outside). I always feel a bit like I've stumbled onto the set of an old movie when I come here, and indeed the location is often used for film shoots. The thing that stands out the most the first time you visit, however, is the seating arrangement. It still seems strange even after months of eating there, actually. They don't leave any room between the tables! When you're getting seated, you see, the waiter pulls out not your chair, but your table, and after one of you is seated, back the table goes, and you're locked in. Tables flying here and there, people awkwardly squirming out to use the bathroom…it all seems so impractical, and yet it works.

When gathering with friends and loved ones, I believe you should always start with an appetizer, and the House Antipasto ($10) is a time-tested crowd-pleaser in this regard. The complimentary flavors of the assorted cheeses, pickled vegetables and cured meats leave your hunger piqued and your senses tingling. Pay attention to the daily specials, because some of the best dishes I've tried at Bar Toto have been specials – a sign of good cooks at work. As far as entrées go, I particularly recommend the pasta dishes, which include the fantastic Penne with Peas and Prosciutto in Tomato Cream Sauce ($9). The restaurant's flatbread pizzas are topped in classic Italian style and are great for a light meal, but if you're really hungry, go for one of Bar Toto's special Panini Burgers. The Toto ($9) is the house Panini Burger, and comes grilled to order, topped with Gorgonzola cheese and red onion. The fries that accompany this and a number of other entrées are abnormally delicious, and would be fantastic alone as a snack with drinks (with a side of mayonnaise if you really want to do it up European-style).

Even if you dine elsewhere, you can stop by Bar Toto afterward for $3 drafts and well drinks at Reverse Happy Hour, which takes place seven nights a week from 11:00pm to 2:00am. Late-night Happy Hour is a tricky thing, though; by 2:00am, going to work the next day starts to seem a little more optional.

Brunch is a beautiful thing – there are multiple courses, you can choose between breakfast and lunch items, and of course, you can get sloshed before noon without looking like a borderline alcoholic. New Yorkers love their brunch for these reasons and more, so it’s not hard to find a decent place in the city to get your Eggs Benedict fix. However, if you’re looking for something a little different, you might want to make a trip to Park Slope, where Sette Enoteca e Cucina serves up brunch, Italian style.

Sette is a neighborhood mainstay serving light and innovative Italian fare in an elegant but unassuming setting. The dining room is dominated by an open kitchen, while the expansive outdoor patio (which is covered during colder months) offers diners a view of bustling Seventh Avenue and Park Slope’s ongoing parade of interesting personalities. Sette’s wait staff is always helpful and friendly, and they certainly keep the drinks flowing, which is one of the reasons my friends and I return time and again. We like our mimosas and we like them filled up often.

The $16 Prix Fixe brunch menu includes an antipasti and secondi course, as well as coffee, tea, fresh bread, and of course, unlimited Bloody Marys and sparkling wine cocktails. The attention to quality ingredients and simplicity of preparation make for some phenomenal dishes here. Appetizers like Ricotta Fritters with fruit puree, and Roasted Beet Salad with hazelnuts and goat cheese, are nearly a meal in themselves, but save room for the amazing entrées. My favorite is the Egg, Fennel Sausage, and Caciocavallo Cheese Panini, but other standouts include the Uovo al Forno (an oven-baked egg over polenta, baked with tomato sauce and ricotta), and Amy’s Semolina Raisin Bread French Toast, which puts a sweet twist on a classic dish. If you are ready for something more substantial, the Secondi menu also includes such dinner favorites as Pizza al Pomodoro e Mozzarella, Baked Lasagna with Tomato and Meat Ragu, and Braised Chicken with Fried Polenta.

So if the thought of eating yet another Belgian waffle at yet another overpriced Manhattan bistro leaves you less than enthused, give Sette a try. By the third Bloody Mary, you’ll wonder why you ever went anywhere else.

There's a stretch of restaurants on the upper west side that make you feel like you're in the center of a Woody Allen flick – reeking of the picturesque Manhattan that is often only captured in films. If you want to remind yourself of how quaint Manhattan can be – walk down Columbus Ave. and stop in for a bite to eat at Pomodoro Rosso (229 Columbus Ave).

This rustic Italian eatery is a favorite haunt of mine…I'm almost hesitant to share it. The restaurant is like a slice of Venice – with a huge mural painted inside so you feel like you're docked at a canal, sipping some vino in Italy. The red and white checkered tablecloths give this restaurant a comfortable, casual feel. Come dressed in jeans or dressed in a tie – you'll fit in either way. Though their menu is filled with delicious selections, sample from their daily specials which never disappoint. I look forward to their crispy focaccia and olives (always brought out right away) that have been perfectly aged that you can taste the olive oil with each bite.

My recent dinner there consisted of an eggplant croquette and artichoke heart appetizers which were small enough to anticipate dinner, rather than fill me up. For an entrée I had the spinach and cheese ravioli covered in a light marinara and vegetable sauce. My meal was superb and simple. (If you love linguini and clams – try it here.) Entrees range from $15 to $25 but you'll certainly eat your money's worth. Pomodoro's is a great for a group or great for a date – but the atmosphere here is best during the evening. Don't come too late though, as the restaurant is practically cleared out by 11 p.m. on a weekend evening. There is no better feeling than dining in at this wonderful ristorante on the UWS. For true Italians like myself, the blend of a rustic atmosphere, decent red wines, a lovely wait staff, and delicious meals simply cannot be beat.

You can find a great Italian restaurant in every neighborhood of Manhattan, but in Astoria, Queens where Greek food flows like water, it's often hard to find a really good eggplant parmesan. But skeptics beware, you'll find an authentic Italian dish at the lovely Trattoria L'Incontro (2176 31st St.).

Settled in the hub of a busy intersection of Astoria, this restaurant is a great escape. Chef Rocca Sacramone is behind this gem of a restaurant – and is often seen table hopping to ensure that everyone is enjoying their meal. The theme of the restaurant seems to be bigger is better. The interior and décor is grandiose, wine glasses are the size of your arm, and my knife seemed more suited to carve a turkey rather than cut my lamb chop. Even the menu is large. Our waiter rattled off 32 specials (a fellow diner counted) from appetizers and salads to fish and meat entrees. I felt overwhelmed by all my menu options and wished they would have put a simple insert in the menu – there was no way to remember even half of the specials.

I started off with a calamari salad with cannelloni beans and red onion – which was delicious. My entrée was a stuffed veal chop that was surprisingly small (though the plate was gigantic, of course). Our waiter was a bit stiff and often slow, though not entirely his fault since this restaurant is always packed. You'll rarely find a night where you can just walk in and eat – so calling ahead for reservations is a must. With a packed house comes a lot of noise, making this a great place to go with a big group of people, which they can easily accommodate. Overall I enjoyed my experience, though for all the pomp and grandeur, I wish the food had delivered a bit more, though I think it definitely deserves a few more visits. At least I know I can get a great Italian meal in Astoria without hopping on the N back to Manhattan.