If you're in New York and have a hankering for Italian food, you have a few choices per city block. If you want simply prepared Italian food made from the most select ingredients in a casual but stylish atmosphere, you can't go wrong with Bellavitæ. I learned about this small, Greenwich Village restaurant from the Washington Post restaurant critic, Tom Sietsema (whom you will find I refer to routinely as Tom, though I do not know him; see also my references to Bob (Ryan), the local NBC station's weatherman), who has recommended it on his weekly chats (always hastening to add that he knows the owner; lucky him!). I haven't been since last summer, but am still reminiscing about my meals there.
You can figure out that Bellavitæ's emphasis is on the ingredients as soon as you walk in and notice pantry items -- olive oil, vinegar, arborio rice, etc. -- displayed on shelves lining the walls. Although it serves pastas and main courses such as fish, steak, and a changing fritto misto, I prefer to graze among the antipasti, which combine those imported items with fresh ingredients at their seasonal peak. Enoteca's and trattorias, focusing on Italian wine and small plates of simple ingredients, are trendy right now, but the success of such places depends upon the quality of the ingredients. According to Adam Platt of New York magazine, the owner of Bellavitæ, Rolando Beramendi, supplies fancy important Italian products to many of the city’s leading Italian restaurants. He knows his ingredients.
At my first meal last June one hit was a plate that was nothing more than cubes of pecorino cheese and fresh fava beans drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper. This didn't appear on the menu the second time I visited. One result of the restaurant using ingredients only when they are at their prime is that you cannot count on finding the same items time after time; a small price to pay for quality. How's this for pickiness about seasonal ingredients? From Frank Bruni's review in the NYT:
And then there was the fettunta, of which I have been dreaming ever since I tasted it. Fettunta more or less means "oily slice," and it's the fantabulous result of rubbing a piece of toasted peasant bread with garlic, drenching it in freshly pressed, spectacularly pungent olio nuovo, or new olive oil, and then showering it with rock salt.
The fettunta is off the menu now, because Bellavitae was using Capezzana olive oil from Tuscany that had been pressed in November and no longer boasts the electric green vividness that it did through the middle of February. But the fettunta will very likely return at the end of this year, when another batch of freshly pressed Capezzana oil makes its way to these shores.
How many restaurants do you know of that will take an item off its menu because the right olive oil isn't fresh enough?
One of the most memorable treats from our meals was the polpettine fritte or, as simply described on the menu, fried little meatballs. They are marble sized nuggets, fried and salted. They are amazing. In a perfect world every bar in the country would have these available for snacking instead of peanuts or pretzels or, more commonly, nothing. If you go to Bellavitæ, you must get the meatballs.
Among the main courses, fritto misto is, as its name suggest, a mixed fry plate. But in addition to whatever the main ingredient of the day is -- cod, chicken, rabbit, etc. -- the dish includes such treats as fried slices of Meyer lemon (fans of Palena's cafe in DC will find this familiar) and, if I didn't make this up, caperberries.
I would like to think if I lived in New York I'd stop by Bellavitæ frequently after work or running errands and sit at the back bar and enjoy a glass of wine with some meatballs and fava beans. What a joy. I'll have to content myself with my occasional trips north. (Mysterywriter and NorthernOutlaw: I'm due for a visit.)
Did I mention the meatballs?
Bellavitæ
24 Minetta Lane (near 6th & Bleeker)
New York, NY 10012
(212) 473-5121
(available on opentable)
We LOVE this place. Since we accompanied mbpalaver last summer, I believe we have been there three times. Not only is the food fresh and interesting, but the prices, for NYC, are pretty decent. Nearly every item on the menu--except for the meats--is under $20, which is rare here anymore. Of course, once you pick out a nice wine to accompany the fabulous food and you add on another plate of meatballs or cranberry beans--yes, cranberry, the price climbs. It's also very close to the West 4th subway station, which is easily accessible from nearly every subway line!
Posted by: mysterywriter | January 08, 2007 at 08:32 AM