April 26, 2004
Bronx Pasta Ecstasy
Remember the media brouhaha when Brooklyn's Grocery restaurant received a Zagat score of 28, putting it in league with Manhattan's culinary elite? Grocery's co-owner said "I don't think we're doing earth-shattering food. We're just a really good restaurant." I haven't been to Grocery, but this sounds like a pretty good description of Roberto's Restaurant in the Bronx, too.
In a world apart from the stroller-pushing yuppie cool of Smith Street, Roberto's is a ten-minute walk from the Bronx Zoo through Boogie-Down's Little Italy.
Manhattan's Little Italy is a safe and tourist-supported stage set of what was once an exciting and vibrant immigrant community. Now neighborhood associations negotiate for its survival. In the Bronx, however, borders aren't clear and things are a bit unpredictable.
Red, white and green "Little Italy in the Bronx" flags wave above bodegas and taquerias while drug dealers stand by trash-encrusted payphones. If you follow the razorwire down Crescent Avenue, you'll come to Roberto's at the corner of East 186 Street.
At 5pm, there was already a line. The dining room is small, with about 40 seats, and feels cozy without being cramped. The dark wood of the tables and chairs, warm paintings and a nice big frosted window makes the room comfortable for relaxing, drinking wine, and chatting. It's a neighborhood restaurant, so though there are formal touches, there were plenty of people in sneakers and jeans just there for the good food and company.
Everyone seemed to know each other. The waiters talked with regulars, the regulars talked to strangers, and strangers talked to each other while sometimes sharing a table. At the end of the meal we overheard two big-haired women who had been strangers a couple hours earlier. They exchanged numbers. "I need a girlfriend," one woman said as she left. The other replied, "Well, you've got one."
We ordered an appetizer of baked scallops and shrimp served on flat escarole leaves with a white wine and butter sauce. A touch of paprika or chili powder gave it a subtle bite, and garlic made the seafood even more robust.
For her entree, Jennifer ordered a pasta special that comes out of the kitchen wrapped in tinfoil. The waiter unwrapped the foil to reveal a molten mass of pencil-thick homemade pasta steaming with rough-chopped basil, pinenuts, breadcrumbs, garlic, and tiny red uncooked tomatoes. I've gone camping before and made "hobo dinners" with tinfoil. This was more like an "ohno" dinner, as in "Oh no, this food is so fucking delicious I'm going to have a heart attack right now." There was enough pasta for two of us. Or at least I tried to convince Jennifer of that as I stole forkfuls.
My dish was even better. Roberto's Pollo alla Chef is a full tender chicken breast with a thin layer of prosciutto and spinach smothered under soft melted mozarella and a buttery sherry sauce. How can it be possible for food to taste this good?
After a dessert of fluffy tiramisu that was light on rum but long on creaminess, I was decided. Roberto's deserves its Zagat 27 and then some. Total cost of one appetizer, two entrees, one dessert, and two glasses of wine: $65. Go there now, before camera crews and the cuisinoisie discover good Bronx cooking.
Posted by harry at April 26, 2004 1:03 PM
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