Nizza
Photo: Cititour.com
Contact Info:
Address: 630 9th Avenue (44th & 45th Sts)
City: New York, NY
Zip: 10036
map: View the Map
Phone: (212) 956-1800
Website: http://www.nizzanyc.com/
Food Info:
Menu: View the Menu
Chef:
Andy D’Amico
Cuisine:
Italian
Payment:
Amex Visa Mastercard
Cititour Review:
Most of you who read The Strong Buzz regularly know that I'm getting married in August and that the wildly lucky guy in question is a playwright. One of the perks of being engaged to a playwright (albeit one who is as in awe of Samuel Beckett as he is of Josh Beckett) is that we go see a lot of theater, which balances out nights spent at Professor Thom’s flanked by screaming sweaty men, pitchers of beer and trays of Nachos de Tomas in various states of coagulation. The joys of watching team sports are endless are they not? Anyway, in the past few months we’ve seen Edward Albee’s Peter and Jerry, Harold Pinter’s The Homecoming which actually made the family in Tracy Letts’ August: Osage County seem pretty normal. Wow. And I thought my family was screwed up. We’re seeing Beckett’s Endgame and George Packer’s Betrayed, and we’re hoping to get to The Seafarer, The Adding Machine, and Patrick Stewart in Macbeth. The only issue with going to the theater for me is where to eat. I can’t afford Esca every time, and while I like Toloache quite a bit, I’m often not in the mood for a three-course pre-fixe at 5:45pm. It seems the options in the theater district are always too expensive or just too much of a production and I’m always cramming in a meal when I’m not really hungry and that’s no fun. And then I discovered Nizza. And since then, quite frankly, we don’t eat anywhere else. Nizza may be a place that many of you have heard of but shrugged off. It didn’t open with a frantic wave of posts on Eater or Grub Street, and that’s probably because it’s really just an unassuming modest slip of a restaurant and bar—a casual place that’s bathed in blond wood like some prototype for a wine bar from Ikea. But what it lacks in sizzle it makes up for in substance. There’s some serious talent in the kitchen and the food here has yet to be given the praise it deserves. That’s what I’m here to do. The chef in question is none other than Andy D’Amico, an underrated talent who was most revered for his work at Sign of the Dove, and has since then been the chef of Marseille, and Nice Matin. He owns Nizza with his business partner and wine director Robert Guarino. The two conceived of Nizza—a restaurant that takes its name from the Italian word for Nice—as a place devoted to the coastal of Nice, Liguria, and the surrounding east bank of the Riviera. They created an immensely pleasing all day (11am-2am) menu that can fill any sort of craving with antipasti, salumi, soups & salads, small plates, pizzas, panini and pastas. To drink, there’s a global wine list with 30 reasonable choices by the ½ liter and 100 bottles on the list. What you need to do at Nizza, as soon as you’re approached by your server who will be asking if you want something to drink and whether you want still, sparkling or tap water, is say this phrase: “I’d like to start off with a Socca please, while I look over the menu.” In moments you’ll be served a wide floppy golden pancake the size of an individual pizza. Known as farinata in Italy, a Socca is a chickpea and olive oil pancake that’s traditionally served to day-laborers as a sort of midday snack in Nice. Come to think of it, you’re a day-laborer here in New York and you deserve one too. It’s spectacular. Andy spices his version up with sage, onion and pecorino so it’s got some nice depth of flavor, and serves it fresh and hot from a wide skillet. Craig and I pulled pieces off with our hands and gobbled it down like a child might eat a warm cookie fresh from the oven. After the Socca, you might chose to have some meats (speck, bresaola, $6 each) and maybe a salad, in which case I’d recommend either Ligurian Tuna Salad ($10)—imported Italian canned tuna served over snappy raw marinated vegetables, San Remo olives, croutons tossed in a zippy green herb sauce. For something a bit more like an antipasti, have a serving of the warm (grilled) calamari and potato salad ($8) that glistens with grassy olive oil, and is sweetened with cherry tomatoes, and given a bracing note from olives. We’ve also followed up our Socca with a wedge of Andy’s Ligurian Swiss Chard and Pancetta Torta ($7), a warm savory sort of quiche filled up with braised Swiss chard, artichokes pancetta and ricotta ($7), and an order of the Focaccette—handmade ravioli filled until swelling with creamy crescenza cheese and then deep-fried so the cheese center becomes like a molten fondue. If you’ve ever had St. Louis-style toasted ravioli, these are similar, but in my humble opinion, better. Now that could be a meal right there, but if you’re up for more, the pastas are all made in-house and are truly exceptional. Take the Pansoti ($11) for instance, These are fresh fat ravioli filled up with chopped bitter greens, herbs and a hit of pancetta that bathe in a creamy walnut sauce that’s not for the calorie conscious. Another surprise was the pasta al pesto. I mean what’s so exciting about pasta in pesto sauce? Since you asked, I’ll tell you what. The pasta and the sauce, that’s what. Andy makes these wide sheets of pasta, like pasta handkerchiefs, dresses them a garlic and herb pesto that’s got the perfect balance of garlic, cheese, basil and pine nuts. While we’re still apparently in winter, have a plate of his wild boar lasagna, a rustic hearty meal perfect for these cold rainy nights we’ve been having ($12). The menu also offers a selection of entrees under Specialties like a simple roasted Branzino with roasted artichokes, potatoes and olives, but my favorite is a quite decadent dish called Tomaxelle. This is a sort of a sausage that's stuffed veal and sweetbreads and served over a stew of white beans and escarole. When I’m seeing a matinee, I like to stop in for a bowl of soup- tomato soup finished with fresh ricotta ($6), or the white bean chickpea and faro, finished with olive oil and shaved Pecorino, $7)- and a Panini, like the hot coppa with pickled onions and mozzarella ($10), or one of the individual-sized pizzas like the one topped with taleggio, pancetta, chili flake, and Parmesan ($10). To be sure, the pizzas are not as good as the ones at Lil’ Frankie’s, or Otto or at other more pizza-centered eateries but they’re fine. My complaint would be that the crusts are too thin; they need a bit more chew. But even with the pizza issue, I’ve never been to Nizza and not had a good meal. In fact, every time I’ve left I’ve thought, wow, that was great, and that was cheap, too. I’ve wondered why more people aren’t talking about this place. Maybe it’s because it’s really quite unassuming. The place is not really all that cozy. With all that wood and glass, it can feel a bit stark, like it belongs in an airport mall or something. But if that’s what’s keeping away the crowds, I guess that’s good, because at the moment, Nizza is an under the radar gem where you can just stop in without a reservation and get a table pretty easily, or grab a couple of stools at the marble-topped bar. Chances are, Craig and I will be seated not too far away, discussing Beckett, or Beckett.
Review By: Andrea Strong
Comments:
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