Caffe Storico
This restaurant is closed!
Contact Info:
Address: 170 Central Park West (76th & 77th Sts)
City: New York, NY
Zip: 10024
map: View the Map
Phone: (212) 485-9211
Website: http://www.nyhistory.org/dine
Hours: Brunch
Sunday: 11am–3:30pm
Lunch
Monday–Saturday: 11am–3:30pm
Late Afternoon Menu
Sunday–Saturday: 3:30pm–5pm
Dinner
Sunday–Thursday: 5pm–10pm
Friday and Saturday: 5pm–11pm
Food Info:
Menu: View the Menu
Chef:
Jim Burke
Cuisine:
Venetian
2nd Cuisine:
Italian
Reservations:
Click for reservations
Payment:
Amex Visa Mastercard Discover
Cititour Review:
It's a pleasure to be able to eat--lunch, dinner or in-between--in a museum where the restaurant is attractive and the food way above the norm. Caffe (as in "coffee") Storico, (which means "historic" in Italian) inside the New York Historical Society, has walls lined with plate racks to showcase sets of china from the museum's extensive collection. The room is bright with cheery yellow banquets and large chandeliers; as evening comes, the lights are dimmed to good effect.
The all-Italian wine list occupies almost the entire back side of the large menu giving you a good idea of the restaurant's style with many selections available by the glass as well as regular and specialty cocktails.
At lunch the chopped salad of apple, feta cheese, avocado and pancetta is a winner while the chicken salad with shaved zucchini is a good twist on a favorite.
Dinner offers house-made pasta including paparadelle with a duck ragu (my dining companion didn't notice the "shaved chocolate" accent); rigatoni with Italian sausage Bolognese and a spicy linguini with crabmeat. Fish eaters go for the roasted branzino and diver scallops and there is a saltimbocca and ossabuco with roasted--what else--kale for the carnivore crowd. At lunch the place serves plenty of panini, these attentively made of high quality ingredients such as grilled chicken, fontina cheese and onion mostarda.
Depending on your mood and appetite, you could eat only a couple of appetizers such as the pork belly spiedini with plum glaze or yellowtail crudo. I found the side dish of roasted baby Brussels sprouts with pancetta a little on the salty side; other contorni include roast hen-of-the-woods mushrooms and crispy polenta with truffle oil. There are plenty of sweet endings, an artisanal cheese plate, homemade gelato and sorbet and Italian cookies which go well with any of the many tea and coffee offerings.
Service is pleasant and knowledgeable without being in your face and even when the place is full the buzz isn't killing. If you're fussy about a time, especially on weekends and holidays, make a reservation which can be done online.
Prices are on the high end but not crazily so for the Upper West Siders, museum goers and out-of-town folks who frequent the restaurant.
Caffe Storico serves brunch on Saturdays and Sundays from 11 to 3; lunch Tuesday through Friday from 11:30 to 3:30 and dinner running from 5 to 10 PM, well after the museum closes. The restaurant is shuttered Mondays.
Review By: Mari Gold
Additional details: Classy, Brunch
Comments:
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