Civetta: Little Italy's Newest Competition

July 29, 2009 10:23 am

Civetta: Little Italy's Newest Competition

$Behind the Burner: Civetta: Little Italy\'s Newest Competition$

Sheets of rain were flooding Nolita on Sunday night. So to avoid any wet travels, yet still satisfy our hunger, my friend and I picked a restaurant that seemed fitting, cozy enough to keep us dry and tasty enough to match the delicious nearby world of Little Italy—Civetta Ristorante .

The ambiance was very inviting adorned with dimly lit European elegance and vaulted ceilings, rustic wooden tables, and of course a warm fireplace that assured us we made the right choice in that dreadful weather. Upon seating, we were immediately impressed by all the choices on the menu, and after a quick debate my friend and I settled on having mussels, baby octopus and veal meatballs to start. I'm used to ordering two appetizers for two people, but hey you only live once, right? With such a variety, we were unable to limit ourselves. The mussels were cooked with cacciatorini, an Italian dry-cured sausage, fennel and tomato. The sausage presented hearty flavors which balanced the freshness of the seafood without overpowering it. In fact, I liked it so much I managed to spill broth on dress. Luckily, with some quick club soda action, I was able to recover and continue to enjoy my meal.

The baby octopus was flavorful but the red wine dressing gave it an overly pungent bite. As expected, the veal meatball was not as juicy as a beef meatball, and was a little bit on drier side. Thankfully, the baby corn added a lot of sweetness, especially considering it is so perfectly in season at this time.

We had an even harder time deciding on the wine, so much so, that the manager came over twice and gave us recommendations; however, ordering our main entrées was a bit less of a struggle when it came to deciding. I somehow managed to fight my carb urge, although tempted by my all time favorite pastas—Rigatoni alla Bolognese, and Potato Gnocchi, I still resisted and took the seafood route: Sautéed prawns infused with garlic, brown butter, chick pea puree and parsley. Clearly, I did not regret my decision. The prawns were served with their head on. Although this is a horrifying "no no" for some, this style did not intimidate me, but instead brought me back to the delicious Mediterranean styles of Europe.

As for my food loving friend, he selected the breaded pork chop, adorned with grated carrot, Guanciale salad and Vin Santo dressing—tasty, predictable but not wow-worthy in my book.

For our final food battle, we almost opted out on dessert, debating on enjoying some blueberries form the farmer's market awaiting at his place. Yet, Civetta's selections claimed victory once again. The scrumptious dessert was the cherry on top to our whole Civetta experience-literally. We enjoyed a pignoli macerated seasonal fruit served in a pine nut tart, oozing with crimson perfection.

I must say, the cherry flavor in the tart was definitely the perfect sweet ending to our meal, now allowing us to venture back out in the rain with a much better mood and of course, a filled stomach.

—Divya Gugnani

Civetta Ristorante
98 Kenmare Street
New York, NY 10012
212.274.9898