Pastavino
Photo: Pastavino
Contact Info:
Address: 1742 Second Avenue (at 91st Street)
City: New York, NY
Zip: 10128
map: View the Map
Phone: 212-831-8167
Food Info:
Cuisine:
Italian
Cititour Review:
Shakespeare once asked what’s in a name – and it’s a question many restaurateurs should ask themselves. Take the recently opened Pastavino. While this pleasant Upper East Side restaurant is a perfectly fine place to have a plate of spaghetti alla pomodoro and a glass of Chianti, its kitchen is capable of far more interesting fare. Take the two appetizers we sampled. The golden fried calamari not only lives up to it billing, but the house’s fine presentation – tossing the seafood with a generous portion of frisee in a slightly tangy dressing – makes this dish extra-special. Zucchini parmigiana, proves to be a fine use for this often maligned vegetable, which is napped with a fresh-tasting tomato sauce and topped with plenty of mozzarella. As you might expect, there’s a wide variety of pastas available here, from the classic linguine alla vongole to fussilli baresi (made with sausage and broccoli rabe). But we headed straight to the one that was labeled “homemade” – lovely spinach-and-ricotta ravioli in a creamy sun-dried tomato sauce. If you’re looking for heartier fare, try the very filling tronchetto di manzo, two slices of homemade meatloaf stuffed, in the old-fashioned Italian style, with spinach, red pepper and egg. Somewhat more delicate, but also quite tasty, are two rolls of veal scallopine stuffed with fontina cheese, set in a yummy mushroom sauce. (Both entrees arrived with roasted potatoes and broccoli.) One last note: Pastavino’s dishes are available in “grande” portions, which are meant for two or three diners. But the regular portions are actually large enough for any pair to split – which makes the ultrareasonable prices here an ever more incredible value. Maybe Great Value would be a better name than Pastavino.
Review By: Brian Scott Lipton
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