Today is the first day of summer and I'm walking with a little more bounce in my step. How can I not when this morning my normally dour fruit stand guy smilingly tells me that the peaches are sweet and then gives me a free banana? I have packed a delicious summer lunch for myself--an improvisation of a salad nicoise--and I have a new restaurant that I love.
A VOCE (41 Madison Ave, corner of 26th St.)opened in March of '06 and received accolades all around, including three stars from the star-stingy Frank Bruni. It is the first restaurant of Andrew Carmellini, formerly a protegee of Daniel Boulud, and it is hopefully just the beginning for him.
The ambiance is sophisticated but not too starched. And, although the restaurant is huge, the noise level is low, like an undulating murmer. In fact, once you are seated at the large wooden tables it is easy to feel like you are having your own dinner party.
The service is also extremely friendly and knowledgable. When I asked the waitress for a particular glass of white, she countered with another suggestion and she was completely right. It was clean, crisp and exactly what I had wanted.
We started off with the ricotta cheese spread and toasted sourdough that our waitress advised us to get instead of the normal bread and olive oil. The cheese spread is an appetizer so you have to pay for it, but each warm dollop of ricotta, mixed with herbs and olive oil is quite worth it. For appetizers, we split the duck meatballs and the octopus. The duck meatballs with a dried cherry mostarda are a signature dish at A VOCE and they certainly are unique and delicious but I found them a little too sweet and, dare I say this about meatballs which are inherently little pieces of fat, too rich. In all fairness though, I wasn't in such a meatball mood so I may be making criticisms that I will later regret--my friend certainly did not agree with my criticsm. What I was in the mood for, however, and what I will be in the mood for anytime Andrew Carmellini wants to make it for me, was the octopus. These pieces of octopus were large and IN CHARGE. The inch high chunks of octopus commanded over the plate, with watercress and a diced fruit salsa giving them tasty support. The Dish was a special and I only hope they may add it to the menu full time because this was the most inventive and fresh preparation of octopus I've seen in New York.
For our main courses we ordered an assortment of "half orders" of pasta and one "half order" of shrimp. I received my enormous All-Clad skillet of grilled shrimp and immediately wondered if the portion size had been dictated by Tony Soprano. There were four huge shrimp tales and my order of "Grandma's Ravioli" included seven good size meat raviolis--It almost seemed like the "half-order" might be a joke. All kidding aside though, it made me like this restaurant even more. Instead of falling into a certain formula of upscale dining, teensy plates=more thoughtful preparation, Andrew Carmellini is forging his own trail, unafraid of shaking up the status quo--the Isaac Mizrahi of the food world if you will. The aforementioned "Grandma's Ravioli" was definitely yummy but I thought the meat was just a teensy bit overcooked. The shrimp scampi ravioli was a great summer dish and you could very much taste the shrimp and zucchini but I don't if my palate was ready for the scampi aspect within the pasta. The potato gnocchi in cream sauce, with proscuitto and spring peas was better than all of the aforementioned pastas: small, flavorful little circles that were surprisingly light for gnocchi. But the BEST pasta dish, hands down, was a farfalle special. These farfalle were long elegant versions of the typical bowtie shape, more an ascot than a bowtie. The elegant pasta was intertwined with mushrooms, and snowpeas and enveloped in a light cream sauce. I was truly jealous of my friend for having ordered this dish and if it is on the menu again (it is a special)I will order a full order, maybe two.
I love A Voce. I want to go on a date there, take my parents there and have a nice quiet meal by myself at the bar. All very different situations but A Voce, with its welcoming staff and appealing menu, is perfect for them all.
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