The name of this osteria refers to the sunny regions of Italy which inform the cuisine featured here, but it could just as well describe the warm and friendly service. The host and waitstaff were so pleasant last night that my friend and I were happy to wait for over a half-hour in the bustling space. We sat down a little after 10:30 p.m.
Luca, our Florentine waiter, endured our sad attempts at communicating in Italian, and soon brought out rosemary flatbreads with a spicy tomato emulsion, an appetizer of three dollops of buffalo mozzarella interspersed with ripe red and yellow tomatoes and marinated peppers, and a grilled portobello mushroom "tower" in tomato sauce. We were already quite satisfied without having yet eaten the main meal.
Then a bowl of breadcrumb-topped spaghettini arrived, with saltiness provided by the dried mullet roe - arugula and tomatoes provided a vegetal touch. A fusilli tossed with black olives and capers arrived with several giant heads-on shrimp (only $13.95). By this time it was almost midnight and I decided to forgo dessert, but my friend happily devoured a frozen peach stuffed with creamy peach sorbet.
We said goodbye to charming Luca and it was time to compete for a cab.
Osteria del Sole: 267 West 4th St., (212) 620-6840.
Sunday, September 25, 2005
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2 comments:
Congratulations on planning the menu of your dreams! May you & your other be nourished eternal with love, food, and song.
-Danielle Eva
Hi,you are totally right Salli when u say that the food is outstanding in the osteria del sol,and about the waiter I guess that I never found a better service then the one that Luca gave to us,this guy is something else.
-Eleine
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