08.30.09

Review of Barbarini Alimentari, Monday May 2009

Posted in Financial District, Italian, New York City, New York City Reviews, rated 6 to 6.5 at 00:00 by Dominique

225 Front St. & Beekman/Peck Slip, 212-227-8890
Great for: hiding in a secret garden, post-shopping food, Italian groceries

Software Guy was finally back in town and we decided to meet up around South Street Seaport and wander around. New York is such a great town to do that. You’re certain to stumble upon some hidden gem if you look hard enough. Or walk long enough. The restaurant is concealed by an Italian grocery store; once you get through that you find an enclosed courtyard that’s actually the restaurant. You can sit outside, if you like, but that’s nowhere near as cool.

We mainly got the specials. The speck was great and there was a lot of it. There’s just something about cured salty meat I really like. Probably the fact that it’s meat. My app of medium-size shrimp with fava beans had lots of beans and the shrimp could have been cooked a tad less, but it was quite nice.

We liked SG’s cavatelli with rabbit ragú. The pasta was very al dente. My veal scaloppine in green pepper sauce with capers, carrots, zucchini, onions and potatoes was a little disappointing in comparison. Though they were generous with the meat – four wide slices – one slice was unpleasantly stringy and the others were only halfway better. I enjoyed the sauce and vegetables though.

I think perhaps meat is not their specialty here, so if I’m in the area again I’ll probably stick with a pasta and/or seafood. The service is slow, but that’s nice if you’re having a pleasant conversation. And the location is uniquely lovely.

Rating: 6.5 / 10
Our cost: $70 (2 glasses of wine)
Noise level: quiet in the secret garden
Chance of walking in: good.

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