14 replies to this topic

[Daniel]

(sorry no time to proof)

http://www.locandavinieolii.com

Having either driven past or walked past this place everyday since I moved here, it took an out of town guest to get us in the door.. This place is a gem.. Wonderful food, wonderful wines, a true gem.. The place is supposedly Peidmontaise, however, there is influences from all over Italy.. In the beef carpaccio, I see black olives.. In the desserts, i see more Tuscan influence with almond choices in desserts.. All that aside, the food is absolutely fantastic..

Since we were with a friend of the owner, we sat back and let the food come out of the kitchen..We started with a little shot glass of two different types of soup.. White bean and tomato and basil, A trio of salmon bruschetta started us off.. Each piece more exciting than the next..

The bread is very Tuscan.. But with a little more salt.. But, it definitely was that dense bread that leaves Americans on their first visit to Italy wondering where the hell the Loaf of Hoagie bread there are use to is..

We then moved on to stewed octopus and a pressed octopus carpaccio.. The type where the tentacles are pressed and then cut into rings where you can see the circle pattern on each slice.. In addition to the pressed octopus, there is an amazing fish loaf? with some sort of sauce on it..The loaf reminded me of bortaga.. However, I was not asking questions.. It was really sensory overload at this point.This dish was paired with a Late Harvest Sicilian white where all the sugars were completed fermented.. I hope to remember the name..

Wild boar sausage served with a side of apples in basil.. Strips of smoked speck.. Various cheeses..Lots of creamy goat cheeses.. wonderful chestnut honey, homemade onion jam...

We then moved on to I think the collective winner of the evening.. It was braised tongue sliced thinly served with a sauce. The tongue was so perfectly tender and juicy.. This was my favorite tongue dish i have ever had.. With this, we were also served Peidmontaise beef carpaccio..This version had some cooked cauliflower, some black olives.. Another winner..

From there we moved on to Chocolate pasta stuffed with short ribs.. This pasta was heavenly.. The rich stew of short ribs was a perfect molten mix of rich deep flavors..There was also this dish where strips of pasta were served with lentils.. The history behind this dish is you would take the left over cut out strips from making ravioli and use it up.. The pasta water was salted perfectly.. The lentils were just beautiful..

From the pasta we moved on to Branzino cooked "al cartoccio" with some braised fennel and a blood orange salad.. Perfectly cooked and divided between us..

We then moved to dessert where there was a bunch of different cakes and cookies.. All very good..

The crowd was mainly Italian.. Almost entirely.. As are all the staff and owners.. A true gem.. A destination for certain.. I am thinking it was one of the better Italian restaurants i have been to. From the wine pairings to the cheeses, fish, and pasta.. It was just a spectacular meal..

[Steve R.]

Thanks Daniel. I'm happy you posted about this place for 2 reasons. First, it was the subject of my 1st post on MF years ago (here's the link to our other thread on it.... unless some nice Admin wants to merge them: http://mouthfulsfood...p...c=3002&st=0 ). Secondly, I've been really curious to hear how its doing and have thought about going back for quite awhile now, but just havent. Your post may just have changed that, especially since we were at Al Di La last night for a really good meal as well.

[Daniel]

Among all the wines, one apertif was an Americano,Pietro Vergano's Grignolino "chinato", orange zest, and sparkling water. Was a really nice drink.. Kind of a light version of the negronis we were making at home..

In terms of management, I see what you were saying. We were with a friend and business associate of his so, we got to hang with him.. But, we didnt mind and it was lots of fun. It was friday night and I had a few in me before we got there.. I found it to be a lot of fun and they all mostly spoke Italian which, I was able to understand almost entirely (last night for some reason).. Got to meet the chef who was an older Italian woman that just did a beautiful job last night. Balancing flavors like only Italian food can do and rarely executed outside of Italy .

[Sneakeater]

Just to repeat the encouragement to Admins to merge with existing thread.

[nuxvomica]

i haven't been in ages but remember very good pastas and that Tuscan (then) no salt bread. the tongue sounds delicious

[mongo_jones]

the two threads read together confirm once again that it's good to eat with friends of the house.

[Daniel]

Went back last night.. Got no special attention.. The food was great.. The place was not crowded.. Filled with a Castilian Couple, some actress Miss A spotted, the rest were Italians..

We ordered from the menu, had wonderful food, drank wonderful wines.. Fun night, really interesting food..

This place is fun.

[Nathan]

Since this is the latest thread on this restaurant, I'll post here.

Hmmm...if you were to make a case for the "Brooklyn Curve" this would be a good example.

Crostini plate was pretty good...kind of thing that you find at a lot of Italian wine bars in NY. Especially enjoyed the ricotta and red beets.

Braised onion "gratinata" soup was hearty and fine (especially for the weather).

Pignolata covered with lardo were tasty but way too much for you to each more than one of them a person (we received like 5 of them).

chestnut lasagnette with chickpeas was very good and the kind of thing you don't normally see in NY...It could have maybe used a touch of butter but this was a very good dish nonetheless.

the Il Cacciucco sucked. like really sucked ass. shittiest dish of the year bad. I don't send dishes back but if I were ever to do so...this would be it. It was pathetic.
poorly cooked octopus, fishy old mussels, an undetermined tasteless fish and freezer-burned cheap over-cooked shrimp. All swimming in a broth of pure salt...and I like salt...and those of you who have eaten with me can attest to that! but this was absurd...pure salt bath for awful ingredients. I just can't imagine a serious restaurant using ingredients that poor....there's some major cost-cutting going on in that kitchen.

but order some of the other stuff and you can have a perfectly good meal...just stay away from anything without cheap ingredients.

[Daniel]

yikes.... that sucks about the dish... i dont get the brooklyn curve thing but, yeh, this place gets like no attention anywhere... And for what it is, Italian Cooking, made from a lovely Italian Chef, with really interesting Sicilian Wines,.. Perhaps there are examples where the Brooklyn curve might be the case but, this is not one in my opinion.. But, it is refreshing to see that you didn't also mention Gentrified Brownstone Brooklyn in this review..

[AaronS]

Daniel it sounds like your experiences have been much better than mine, I thought our one meal there was far too expensive for what you got. There was a really nice venison carpacio dish but the rest of it was pretty average.

[Daniel]

yeh.. no doubt about it.... i need to keep going, just to make sure i like it!

[AaronS]

We usually just walk to Frannys when were in the mood for that kind of food. I guess they probably seem pretty different to others.

[Daniel]

yeh, i think the two places are very different... I feel Franny's is more ingredient driven while Locanda relies on traditional cooking.. And to add what Nathan said about the freezer burned and terrible quality of a dish, it makes me feel bad. but there is no doubt Locanda is traditional cooking while Franny's is not what i would call traditional..

[Daniel]

New owners.. Very similar recipes.. they changed the bread, still a Tuscan saltless kind but, it is lighter and more airy.. prices are better.

The meal was truly terrific.. Brooklyn curve or NBC or CBS or whatever the hell people feel comfortable saying, this is the my favorite Italian Restaurat around..

We had tripe Florentine which was terrific.. A chicken liver with Arborio rice but, not cooked like risotto.. The grains kept their individuality.. We had this picci dish with tarragon and onions that was one of the better pasta dishes I have eaten.. It's a rarity to find picci on the menu and these were wonderfully peppery... I think Regional on the UWS is the last place I noticed picci.. These were hand made and again, perfect..

A must visit for any Brooklynite.

[Daniel]

Had a lovely dinner here the other night. From food to wine to service, this place is truly top notch.. Even miss K was in love with this meal. She ate so much of the appetizers that came out, by the time her rare Piedmontese Beef cane, we had to help her. We are such good people like that.

They have these fried dough things that they served along side mangalitsa lardo slices.. the dough was super hot so, the lardo melted itself around the dough.. We ordered the pasta con sarde chitarra. Normally you would expect a hard pasta but, it was interesting to try the homemade pasta.. This was really nice.. A plate of baccala was cooked perfect.. It must have been house made salt cod because it tasted so much more fresh and the texture was great .

Every detail is looked after.. The plates came out warm, service is friendly.. We know the owners so, they just bring things out. We pay for most of them. "Would you like a glass of vermouth" was the first question our waiter asked me. Not really considering it before that very second, it seemed like the perfect drink. Why of course I do.