09.08.08
Review of A Voce, lunch Friday May & dinner Thursday July 2008
41 Madison Ave. & 26th St., 212-545-8555
Great for: pasta, simple menus, people-watching outside, feeling sophisticated
[Lunch] The Producer is fun to eat with. He’s up on his foodie buzz, and so far has suggested places that are actually on my list. The list is about 400 restaurants long now – technically I don’t cross them off once I’ve gone if they’re good, but I like the feeling of “been there, accomplished that.” I of course love other extracurricular restaurants but I’m a very organized, finicky person and being able to check things off is hugely satisfying.
I was persuaded to eat some bread because of the delicious sheep’s milk ricotta that came with it. I believe it’s on the menu as an appetizer as well. We had to try the famous meatballs of duck antipasto with dried cherry mostada. They were juicy goodness. Though the sauce was initially a little sweet, it grew on me. I really liked the meatballs with the ricotta on top, which helped make them saltier.
P went for the special potato gnocchi with wild mushroom and spring garlic. It was surprisingly good. The light pasta made the mushroom taste tolerable to me, and I can honestly say I liked it a lot. The foam on top was maybe some kind of reduction. My scampi ravioli with spicy shellfish guazzetto (basically stew), toasted garlic and Ligurian pesto with little breadcrumbs on top was also very good. The guazzetto consisted of fresh, succulent shrimp, calamari and mussels scattered around – it was a bit salty but I quite liked it. The interestingly triangular ravioli were just right, not too thick nor too thin. I think there were salt crystals inside. I’m not sure exactly why. That could be why the dish was slightly too salty for me. We found that the two pastas went oddly well together. The subtlety and near-creaminess of the gnocchi balanced the saltiness and strong flavors of the seafood.
The menu was large type on one page. I love having lots of choices but sometimes it’s exhausting to figure out what I want when there’s too much to go through. With just four or five choices for apps, pastas and entrées, there wasn’t much difficulty. The waiter was very good, and though the decor is a bit corporate, it’s pretty decent for the area. I’d be happy to come here for dinner.
Our cost: $120 (3 glasses of rosé)
Noise level: pretty quiet
Chance of walking in: low.
[Dinner] Commodities Broker asked me to dinner with his brother F and F’s girlfriend L, but he’d been drinking at a strip club all afternoon and was unwakeably passed out so I ended up having dinner with just F and L. I was glad to be able to round out my review.
We were given balsamic vinaigrette and olive oil with bread instead of ricotta as at the visit before, so I didn’t bother having any. We got two appetizer-size pastas. My spaghetti vongole with little neck clams, soppressata, garlic and spicy peppers was not as spicy as I thought it’d be. I enjoyed the nicely al dente pasta. F’s veal agnolotti with pancetta, cipolla, lemon and pecorino was a bit gamy but still quite good. The pasta looked like medium-size ravioli, and the dish had tons of cheese and crunchy bits. I loved the soft, sweet onions at the bottom of the plate.
L’s scampi ravioli with spicy rock shrimp, tomato and toasted garlic were satisfyingly giant. It was a nice touch to have tiny bits of shrimp in the sauce too. The shrimp inside the ravioli was so pulverized, it could have been crab. I got the king prawns alla griglia with preserved lemon, garlic and fagiolini misti. They were succulent and delicious, in an intensely tomato-y sauce. F’s homemade tagliatelle mixed with sweet corn, chanterelles, smoked bacon and arugula was very fresh and tasted like spring. My favorite part was the salty bacon. I liked how well all the ingredients went together.
I had a Portofino cocktail while I was waiting for F and L, which was very good though a bit bitter from the Campari. I’d say it’s like a more alcoholic Pimm’s Cup. The Milanese is a lot sweeter and heavy on the pear flavor. My favorite was the Marco Polo, which tasted a lot like absinthe, probably because of the Galliano.
We had lovely service and I find it a very pleasant experience all around. It’s not the best Italian food in the city, but the surroundings are elegant, the food is well executed, and you don’t have to worry if it will be good.
Rating: 8 / 10
Our cost: $235 for 3 people (4 glasses of pinot grigio, 2 cocktails)
Noise level: pleasant hum
Chance of walking in: medium.
