A few weeks ago I dined with some faithful foodies at Locanda Verde. The word on the street was positive and it was Italian--how could you go wrong? Plus, the menu looked delicious and the prices were descent. The chef, Andrew Carmellini, comes with quite an impressive resume having been a James Beard award winner and a F&W Best New Chef in 2000. One would think all of this would make for a wonderful dinner.
Think again.
We started with 3 cicchetti's or small plates for those not familiar with the term:
Mozzarella crostino with eggplant & pesto on prosciutto breadBlue Crab crostino with jalapeno and tomato
Lamb Meatball Sliders with caprino and cucumber
The lamb meatball sliders were by far the tastiest in the bunch. I could have ordered several more! The blue crab was so so as it had a fishy taste. The crostino was good but just pretty ordinary. Nothin' special.
For our entrees, we all picked something different:
Homemade Pappardelle with lamb bolognese, mint and ricotta
Ravioli
Gigantone with Sunday night ragu and provolone picante
The pappardelle was VERY pretty. Big, fat noodles with a nice meat sauce. Again, pretty standard. The gigantone was awfully close in taste to the pappardelle and wasn't that special. My foodie friend liked it but wasn't mesmerized. My ravioli had a lovely taste but the portion was extremely small. It could have been a starter! I had so few of them that all I can recall is that they had parmesan cheese on them!
Bottom line: Save your money and go to your local Italian joint for equally delicious food at half the price.
http://locandaverdenyc.com
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