Food Rundown:

Crostino
A trio of crostino with varying toppings each day. A safe bet if you’re looking for some finger foods while you drink. Eight dollars gets you three.

Buratta and Grilled Broccoli Rabe
It’s really hard not to like buratta, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that this is good.

Bucatini
Our favorite dish at ESSC. This is an excellent homemade pasta tossed with silver dollars of gooey mozzarella and big wedges of fresh tomato. Simple and slammin’.

Spaghetti
A respectable plate of spaghetti in red sauce with meatballs. This is obviously the dish that’s meant to sell the whole old-school Italian vibe, and it does the job OK…but I still don’t feel like I’m on Arthur Avenue.

Grilled Octopus
A pretty standard small plate of grilled octopus and fingerling potatoes. Skip it unless you’ve got an insatiable craving for tentacles.

Branzino
Again, a pretty standard piece of fish, but a serviceable option if you’re not in the mood for pasta or meatballs. By default, this is served with head and tail on, but they will remove them if you ask nicely. Honestly though, suck it up.

Tuna Burger
Last time we at here, it was about three hours after a lunchtime visit to Prime Burger. There was definitely a temptation to go back-to-back burger, but common sense stepped in. We ordered this tuna burger with a salad instead. You’re welcome, heart. Tuna burgers in general aren’t our thing, and as we expected, this didn’t do much for us. Maybe your vegaquarian friends will like it.

Photo Credit: Daniel Krieger

Marea is one of those restaurants, like Eleven Madison Park, you walk into knowing damn well it’s going to be incredible. The food, especially the aforementioned pasta, is exquisite. A few of the dishes, including the lobster burrata, the fusili with octopus (and bone marrow), and the steak are among the best things we’ve eaten all year. Service is top notch as well – the staff know the menu inside and out, and they take excellent care of you. But for all that talk about pasta, it’s good to know this: Marea is a Quality Fish restaurant first, Italian restaurant second. To properly indulge, you’ve gotta be willing to strap on the scuba gear and eat whatever swims your way.

There are two ways to approach a Marea experience, and both are the tasting menu…it just depends on what time of day you want to eat like a baller. For lunch, the two course $42 tasting menu is a steal. That’s a better deal than what you find at most boring ass midtown business lunch destinations. Dinner is almost affordable at $89 a person for a four course tasting menu and a meal of this caliber. Ordering a la carte is always an option as well, but with such a deep menu, you’re going to be better served trying as many things as possible.

Food Rundown:

Tonno
As a rule of thumb, if ordering a la carte, go heavy on the generous antipasti and pastas and easy on the overpriced crudo dishes. This crudo plate of raw big eye tuna with oyster crema and crispy artichokes is tasty and most definitely worthy of consideration, even if the portion is small.

Passer
A Long Island fluke crudo in lemon thyme and olive oil. A little boring somehow…I’d skip this next time.

Astice (crudo)
If you dig raw lobster this is for you – bite sized pieces of Nova Scotia lobster, sun dried tomatoes, olives, and plum. If you like your lobster cooked, go with the Astice off the antipasti menu, which is amazing.

Astice (antipasti)
This dish is incredible. I don’t even like cheese, but I loved this. Nova Scotia lobster, fresh burrata, eggplant and basil. A must order.

Polipo
This grilled octopus would be the best thing on the menu if it weren’t for so many other best things on the menu…like the pastas and the steak (see below). Served with smoked potatoes and pickled red onion, this creation is a perfectly crafted balance of beautiful flavors and presentation.

Moleche
Is there a better season than soft-shell crab season? Aside from football season, no. Check this guy out. He’s the man. A full semolina-dusted soft-shell crab with marinated cucumber, mandarin yogurt, and almonds. Yum.

Ferratini
As previously alluded to, the pastas at Marea, just like at White’s other excellent restaurants, Convivio and Alto are the star. This one is a penne like style pasta with manila clams, calamari and hot chilies. Spicy and delicious.

Fusilli
If you’re forced to decide on one pasta, this should be it. This shit is straight up dreamy. Fusili with red wine braised octopus and bone marrow. Ridiculous.

Spaghetti
Another mind numbing pasta concoction of fresh cut semolina pasta, crab, Santa Barbara sea urchin and basil. So good.

Spada
For the not-so-adventurous, feel free to roll with this grilled Hawaiian swordfish. It’s a little less exciting than the rest of the menu, but it’s a great piece of fish and will get the job done.

Capesantein
I’m not going to lie, the scallops were a bit disappointing. They were cooked perfectly and presented well, but there was something a little overbearing going on with the sauce. Not sure exactly what part of the pancetta, spring garlic, candied orange or brown butter sugo that threw me off, but something was funky.

Bistecca
Holy cow. This steak right here is incredible, and is the best single bite of meat I’ve eaten all year. A grilled Creekstone Farms sirloin that’s been dry aged for 50 days, and comes to your table with a delicious, marbelized bone marrow panzanella glaze. It’s worth all $49, almost a buck for every day of dry aging.

The reason we bring this up is because it has presented us with a conflict when it comes Il Bagatto. This is a really good East Village Italian restaurant that we used to hit up often for upbeat drunk dinners and the occasional date. It’s a dark yet lively space with a great downstairs bar and a few excellent menu items. Unfortunately, Il Bagatto has also become home to super long waits, obnoxious patrons, and a guy downstairs on the ones and twos trying to beat mix Rhianna into Men at Work. We’ve dealt with annoying crowds before, but for god’s sake don’t encourage them.

At the end of the day, we’re not recommending that you stay away from Il Bagatto entirely. Just know what you’re walking into during prime time hours. Things can be more sedate early in the week, and it’s honestly worth a visit just for the grilled calamari. Otherwise, there are plenty of other great Italian restaurants in the area, including Il Posto Accanto right next door.

Food Rundown:

Calamari Alla Griglia
Under no circumstance do you skip this. A beautiful plate of grilled calamari with some greens and a few lemon wedges. The calamari has a nice char on it and is perfect. This makes the fried stuff seem like cafeteria food.

Padellata di Cozze Coltivate
Decent mussels that come in a strong garlic and white wine broth, which we’re always a fan of. Honestly, not a dish that will blow you away, but a decent starter.

Gnocchetti Verdi Blu
We have never had gnocchi quite like this. These are bright green spinach gnocchi coated in a fantastic gorgonzola sauce. If you’re into blue cheese, order this.

Fusilli Campagnola Fusilli
A great homemade pasta in with sausage, tomato, and cream sauce. Another one of our favorites here.

Sunday Lasagna Special
A ten layer meat lasagna that is only served on Sundays. Yet another reason to skip the prime-time crowds. Also, this lasagna is a proven remedy for both hangovers and diets.

Dearest Al Di La. It’s taken way too long for this relationship to get off the ground. People have been telling me about you for a while now, saying we’d be the perfect match. It just so happens that low key Italian ladies that don’t abuse my credit card are right in my wheelhouse. I hear you’re pretty good in the kitchen too. Unfortunately, stalking you on the internet can only get me so far. I’m jealous of the others who’ve had their way with you and brag about it all over Yelp. And why can’t I find you on Facebook?

Up until now, distance is the only thing that has kept us from this inevitable union. I have been making an effort to get out to Brooklyn more, but Park Slope? You’re really making this difficult. Nonetheless, I’m glad I made the trip. You are everything that I knew you would be. I love those huge communal tables you have. And wow…those are tight specials and perfectly sized portions. I’m going to start hitting shows at The Bell House all the time now, just so I have an excuse to see you. I do have one problem though. At some point, I am going to have to tell my girlfriend about you. Maybe, when the time is right, you guys can meet. I know she would like you. But I need time. First I’m going to have to convince her to be OK with a little ménage à pasta.

Food Rundown:

Fresh Spring Salad
Make sure you pay attention to the salads, especially the specials. This chopped salad boasted all kinds of awesome fresh greens along with fava beans, green beans, asparagus, peas and fennel in a zesty champagne vinaigrette.

Steamed Mussels
A big ass pot of jumbo mussels. Served in an excellent garlic broth, the biggest prize is at the bottom where a thick piece of bread sits, soaking up the goodness. We fully back these.

Pea Ravioli
Amazing homemade ravioli. Check the TwitPic. Inside the pasta was a heavenly spring pea puree with marscapone cheese, and they came served with a ridiculous butter sauce and fresh peas for garnish. This is pasta perfection.

Squid Ink Risotto
Al Di La is known for their risottos and has rotating specials. Order one to share, they’re generous portions. The squid ink risotto is absolutely tremendous.

Saltimbocca Alla Romana
A boneless pork loin scallopine with sage, prosciutto and sauteed potatoes. This was definitely our least favorite dish of the night, but that’s partly due to the fact that we were stuffed by this point. Either way, we wish we had ordered the rabbit which we hear is ridiculous. Next time.

Now, I can’t claim that I was around when The Bowery was home to Syd Vicious and Dee Dee Ramone and all the people they did smack with. But I did manage to get here before CBGB turned into a John Varvatos and before Daniel Boulud took a dump on it’s memory by naming his restaurant DBGB. That’s right Danny, God Save the Queen. Unfortunately, I missed the really good stuff, when the neighborhood was filthy and punk rock changed the world. But I did at least experience something a little different – before Mickey and Goofy cleaned up the streets and put in a gift shop.

Either way, Keith McNally is here now, and he’s brought his flagship Pastis over from the Magic Kingdom. What’s the difference between Pastis and Pulino’s? Pizza. Ultimately, this is just another McNally franchise, which is fine, but you better know what to expect before you eat. You aren’t coming here for a great New York pizza experience. You’re coming here to either stare at, or show off some ridiculous legs in a miniskirt, and God bless you for that. The pizzas are definitely decent, but this place is more about the scene and having a good time. We’ll go on record saying that we are totally cool with that…but let’s not shower the joint with Michelin Stars just yet. If you want to avoid the craziness but still get in on the action and get a table, we recommend rolling up at about 10:45 on a Friday night. The bar will still be bumping, but you should sit quickly, and at midnight they begin serving a limited number of killer late night burgers. Part of us definitely wishes there was still some grit to the area, but another part of us is also just fine with late night food and miniskirts. Maybe Disney World isn’t so bad after all.

Food Rundown:

Mozzarella Burrata
A killer burrata, drizzled with olive oil, and all around fantastic. You need this at your table.

Baked Ricotta
Another must to kick off your meal at Pulino’s. This is a cast iron pot of baked ricotta cheese, served with crusty bread. The edges are crispy and brown and the middle is soft, warm and perfect.

Margherita Pizza
The true test of a quality pizza. Believe it or not, this is one of the better pies we had at Pulino’s. Simple and delicious.

Gamberi Pizza
Rock shrimp and speck is an interesting pizza combo, but it definitely works here. The briny shrimp and salty speck are friends when they’re together in my mouth.

Porchetta Pizza
Ah yes, now we’re in our element. Porchetta on pizza is a good fucking idea. The pork is tasty and liberally dispersed, and the fennel comes through strong. This one racked up a few points on the rating for sure.

Funghi Pizza
A pretty basic mushroom pizza. The ’shrooms are good, and this is fine, it’s just nothing special.

Salcissia Pizza
Sausage and broccoli rabe, with a nice kick from some chiles. We liked this one quite a bit.

By no means are we claiming that dell’anima is some under the radar date haven that nobody else knows about. Ask any female that lives west of 7th Avenue and she will probably have this place in her top ten. We’re big fans too, and also hold sister restaurant L’Artusi in high regard. Both are great date spots and both have a vanity apostrophe, which makes them cool or Italian or something. Both can also be loud and a bit sceney at times, though dell’anima is much smaller and more intimate. We like dell’anima specifically for the ample bar seating and chef’s counter, perfect for a more casual meal, and making it a great First/Early in The Game Date destination. We also like it because the food is pretty damn spectacular. There are a few really special pasta dishes, and some sharable first courses that are excellent. The wine list is smart though a bit pricey, but there are a handful of good bottles under forty bucks to choose from.

One thing to note – we’ve heard some recent feedback from the field that both dell’anima and L’Artusi are too heavy handed with the salt in some dishes. These chefs definitely don’t shy away from seasoning, so take that into account. I happen to have dangerously low blood pressure, so it’s good for me.

Food Rundown:

Bruschetta
A bowl of crostini, served with your choice of bruschetta in a tiny bowl to spread on top. We reccommend ordering a few. The options change regularly, but we really like the avocado and the rapini pesto.

Charred Octopus
A few grilled octopus arms on a bed of tiny white beans with fennel sofrito. Top notch.

Vognole
Kind of a strange dish – small clams in a bowl that seem to be missing the pasta. Good with some extra crostini if you have them lying around from the bruschetta.

Endive Salad
A nice light salad of endive spears with anchovy and pecorino. Pretty straightforward.

Tagliatelle Alla Bolognese
A nice pasta, but not their best. As with all the pastas, the homemade noodles are excellent, but this bolognese isn’t quite as meaty and rich as we’d like it to be.

Garganelli
Almost like a pasta version of the dish we freaked out over at L’Artusi. A simple bowl of short tube noodles with mushroom, parsley and lemon. Mind blowing and perfect.

Tajarin
A noodle similar to tagilatelle but thinner. This is a fan favorite at dell’anima, and rightfully so. It’s a take on carbonara with a poached egg and speck instead of bacon. Hearty but not terribly heavy, and really good.

Orata
A good option from the entree menu, a nice light piece of fish that’s a can be a pleasant break from some of the aggressive seasoning you’ll find elsewhere on the menu.

Considering this new rule, we have adjusted our scientific rating formula (see The Meatball Shop) to reflect a minimum two point deduction for making us ride an escalator to a meal. Therefore, every restaurant located in the Time Warner Center will receive a maximum 8.0. What’s that you say? Per Se is located in Time Warner Center and it’s the best restaurant on earth? It’s also 200 yards from a J-Crew and on the other end of a three escalator ride. No 10 spot for you.

The original A Voce in Gramercy holds one of the highest ratings on this site. It’s a go-to on Date Night or for Dinner With The Parents, and a spot we always suggest with confidence. The Columbus Circle (mall) incarnation serves a very similar menu of the rich, egg heavy pastas and entrees that lean more towards New American than Italian. Unfortunately, this A Voce just isn’t quite on the same level as the original. That sick view of Central Park doesn’t make up for the fact that the service is less impressive and the food doesn’t come out of the kitchen with the same gusto. That said, we’re still talking about a high quality restaurant here, and overall, we like it. Make note that most of the food is better suited for a taste than entire serving, so go with a group and sample a good portion of the menu. Just make sure your people are prepared for three floors of escalator climbing and maybe a little post-meal browse of the Sephora down the hall.

Food Rundown:

Insalata di scarola
An escarole salad with warm pancetta vinaigrette, soft boiled farm egg and pecorino romano. This was a nice sized appetizer salad that would have been excellent, but it was swimming in too much dressing.

Cavatelli
Small shell-like pasta with brussels sprouts, bacon, Sicilian almonds and whipped sheeps milk ricotta. The ricotta makes this dish quite dense and heavy, so all you really need are a couple of bites. Also, if you’re not into smokey, avoid this – the smoked bacon taste is pretty intense.

Pappardelle
Pappardelle is my favorite kind of pasta because the long, broad noodles can be wound up on your fork to create the perfect sized bite. Also, there’s usually some ridiculous slow cooked meat accompanying it. In this case was braised rabbit with hen of the woods mushrooms, rosemary and parmigiano reggiano. Definitely order this. That rabbit is incredibly tasty.

Spaghetti alla Chitarra
Similar to the Malloreddus we recently experienced at Convivio, this spaghetti with crab, leeks and sea urchin was a big hit. The flavors worked really well together and it was definitely nice to eat something on the lighter side, as most of the pasta dishes here would make even CC Sabathia feel full.

Trota alla Griglia
While a couple of the other entrees are a bit boring, the trout is surprisingly good. Coupled with fingerling potatoes and bitter greens, it comes in an addicting anchovy vinaigrette that even the anchovy averse will like. This is a mainstay at A Voce and you’ll find it on the brunch, lunch and dinner menus.

Brasato
We found this braised beef cheek pretty to be surprisingly unexciting. Served with root vegetable soffritto and marrow, this somehow lacked flavor and could have benefited from a heavier hand with the seasoning.

Salmon
I had the salmon for lunch recently and was impressed. The flavors were spot on and the fish was fresh and prefectly cooked. It takes a lot to impress with us with salmon, but this did the trick.

What we have noticed though, is that a lack of variables consistently produces the same result…most of the restaurants that specialize in one thing earn high marks from us. The following evidence supports our hypothesis: Burger Joint, Luke’s Lobster, Bark Hot Dogs, Flex Mussels, Mercadito Cantina, and Caracas.

Another test of this theory brings us to The Meatball Shop, a restaurant on the Lower East Side operating with the sole purpose of turning out ridiculously good meatballs and presenting you a few options in which to consume them. There are meatball sandwiches, meatball sliders, meatballs in sauce, and meatballs on pasta. Other than a few sides and a nice wine list…that’s it. The result? We love it. A concept that could easily have been a divey storefront serving late night heroes is instead a wonderfully executed and surprisingly nice restaurant where you can enjoy a glass of wine while you get fatter by the meatball. The staff is friendly, it’s a lively atmosphere, and the food is solid. Another specialist restaurant beats our formula. Oh well. We suck at math anyway.

Food Rundown:

The Meatballs
We’ll kick this off by tackling the meatballs on their own. The pork is by far the best, followed by the beef and the lamb (if available). The chicken meatballs are unimpressive, and the salmon one freaked me out. They are all relatively light, though eat too many and you will feel it in your gut for a day at least (trust us). While nice on their own, these meatballs are best showcased in a sandwich, rather than simply in sauce or atop a bowl of pasta.

Meatball Hero
Served on a baguette with your choice of ball, sauce, cheese, and bread type. Our favorite is pork, spicy meat sauce, and provolone on whole wheat. Possibly the perfect meatball sandwich. The only knock we have is that we’d like some more kick from that spicy meat sauce.

Meatball Smash
Two meatballs served on a brioche bun. A bit smaller than the hero with the same options, and still very good. We prefer the hero to the smash simply because the baguette holds up a little better. This got soggy pretty quickly.

Sliders
A nice way to sample the goods, we absolutely love the special lamb meatball with mushroom sauce. The chicken with parmesan cream sauce was a let down. For $3 a pop, your money is better spent diving into a bigger sandwich. Get a hero.

Mashed Potatoes
Buttery, creamy mashed potatoes with bits of skin. Rich and perfect, just don’t fill up on it.

Ice Cream Sandwiches
Order one of these or risk wasting the best years of your life knowing only the Chipwhich.

As for the food, the $62, four course tasting menu is a steal. This is first class dining at an affordable price. While the antipasta and main courses are solid, the pasta is the main event, and the reason you need to immediately make a reservation. We’re talkin’ next level shit. It’s so good that we would like to formally petition for a full pasta tasting menu a la Convivio’s sister restaurant Marea.

Service is low key, but incredibly informative. Our waiter knew every dish inside and out, and was pleasant but not overbearing. Almost everything we ate met or exceeded expectation, and we had a good time. We will say though, those Tudor City suits must be on a tight leash. The place was completely empty by 10pm. So while Convivio does have an excellent Outdoor/Patio Situation, perfect for a Special Occasion, don’t expect things to get too wild.

Food Rundown:

Brussels SproutsThe “Sfizi” section of the menu is made up of snack-sized plates of roasted sunchokes, saffron risotto croquettes, and spicy salame. It’s not part of the tasting menu, but is definitely something to pay attention to. Our first round of drinks tasted even better with some brussels sprouts, which came in an excellent vinaigrette with pancetta, and set the tone for the rest of the meal.

Grilled QuailIf you overcook quail ever so slightly, it can come out dry and bland (which we learned at Colicchio & Sons). This one was spot on. Tender, juicy and accompanied by a strong supporting cast of pancetta, radicchio, apples and mushroom. This was one of the better grilled quail dishes we’ve ever had, and we highly recommend checking it out.

Sliced YellowtailWe wanted to get down with a fish antipasti, and our waiter led us to the promised land. This buttery raw white fish was topped with a mix of pistachios and scallions in an olive puree. Every bite was absolutely incredible.

MalloreddusAfter an excellent round of appetizers it was time for the main event: pasta. Our waiter happily broke down just about every single pasta dish on the menu, and we came to the conclusion that I needed to get the Malloreddus. One of their signature pastas, this is a saffron gnocchetti with crab and sea urchin. Words can’t really describe how good this, and all the pasta is at Convivio. You’re just going to have to go and try for yourself. We hear good things about both the fusilli with pork shoulder ragu and the squid ink pappardelle. Put them on your list.

CaramelleRavioli filled with braised oxtail, escarole and pecorino. There wasn’t a chance in hell we were passing this one up. A glorious combination of a well crafted, and perfectly cooked pasta filled with slow cooked oxtail that tasted like the best short rib meat you’ve ever had. We could have easily taken down three orders of this.

Lamb ChopsThe pasta course is tough act to follow. I definitely enjoyed the salsa verde coated lamb chops, but couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that all I wanted was more pasta.

Strip SteakA massive, bone-in, Creekstone Farms strip steak, and it’s a $6 supplement to the prix fixe. For good reason. This is huge compared to the other entrees. The steak itself was extremely flavorful, but was missing that little something extra to make it special. More pasta please.

Fried CauliflowerSomehow, this kind of tasted like popcorn. Awesome.

DessertThe torta looked like something straight out off of Giada’s show, sans TV’s best cleavage. The almond cake with mascarpone cream and sour cherry gelato hit the spot. The bomboloni was solid too, although doughnuts are getting a little played out these days.