Fiorini, a ten-day-old Italian restaurant, is already a Midtown institution. This is due to the talents of renowned restaurateur Lello Arpaia, who brings years of experience and a deep love of traditional Italian food to the airy, wood-ceilinged space. Arpaia has installed Chef Ermino Conte, a native of Taranto, Italy, from his popular Cellini restaurant.
Conte turns out everything from risotto to tiramisu, and his cuisine is both delicate and hearty. He makes the lightest baba you're likely to try ("You can barely even find this in Naples anymore, it's always like lead," says Arpaia). His little saffron-accented arancini melt in one's mouth. Tonight, as I raked my spoon across the vestiges of a citrusy mascarpone mousse, I wished I could start again from the beginning...
which beginning consisted of: three breadcrumbed, grilled cones of calamari; balsamic-drizzled tuna carpaccio; two silky burrata domes on butter lettuce with halved cherry tomatoes; rich, creamy porcini risotto with a touch of truffle and white wine ("I've been making risotto for twenty years," Conte later informed us); a salad with slices of crunchy raw artichoke; and grilled octopus. All of this was accompanied by oniony foccaccia and a bottle of 2000 Ferrari-Carano Tresor Reserve.
But as everything was quite light, we had ample room for all that was to follow. Two of us ordered the pesce spada livornese: a thick piece of moist, baked swordfish topped with a tangy stew of capers, tomatoes and olives, served with broccoli rape and a small slice of potato. Others enjoyed the pan-seared tuna with caramelized pearl onions, spinach, golden raisins and red peppers, the grilled salmon with apple mustard and a nice-sized portion of veal milanese.
At this point, the lights suddenly went out. I wondered if there had been an electrical short, but then a procession of waiters began to sing "Happy Birthday." The lights flickered on and off, and a dessert was ceremoniously delivered to a nearby table.
With a little less ceremony, we then received our desserts, which included the aforementioned light-as-air baba (a must), ricotta cheesecake, strawberry Cabernet sorbet, and a pyramid of Sicilian mascarpone mousse (this looked like a birthday cake in itself, with its lemon and lime zest and red and blue coulis). As we sipped our cappuccinos, someone in our party reminisced with Arpaia about his beloved Lello and Scarlatti eateries, which closed down in the early '90s. I never had the opportunity to dine at either, but I'm certainly glad to have dined at Fiorini.
Fiorini: 209 East 56th St., (212) 308-0830. Get there while you can still get in!
Saturday, September 08, 2007
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5 comments:
This restaurant offers an outstanding dinning experience. My husband and I dinned in the restaurant a week ago. The food was incredible, a true Italian taste. You have to eat in this restaurant; I assure you there is no restaurant that can compare to this one. Great Service and amicable personnel and the Chef is outstanding.
Fiorini just made the top of my list. It is delightful, delicious and you'll leave with enough money left over to return. The service is spot on, portions sized just right, and the atmosphere most pleasant. Too bad I'm from out of state; I'd make myself a regular here.
It is fabulous, isn't it! I sent some Italian friends over there and they fell in love. Not just with each other, as they were already in love, but with Fiorini!
I think Fiorini, your recommendation, is a find. The cooking is excellent, the room formal but warm and comfortable, and the portions are huge, a big change from the usually culinary microscopy. My companion’s raw artichoke salad overflowed his plate, and my grilled squid salad was beautifully balanced, three squid (no tentacles) with a lot of taste on a bed of fresh varied greens and grape tomatoes. My risotto with porcini and speck was also enough for us to share, and ingratiating in a way that such dishes are not always, pungent with pieces of the mushroom and lots of butter, and the grains of rice thoroughly cooked without going too far. We shared the special, over roasted Bronzino filleted in the kitchen for two It cost an eye opening $42, but fed us both after those ample earlier courses. The fish was not primo Friday night goods; it was beautifully cooked, but the flesh itself had a dry chalkiness, not as fine as I would have liked. Only a few choices for wine, not enough, and the white sauvignon blanc I had was served in a small glass which didn’t enhance the wine’s taste. The service was leisurely and knowledgeable, except for the hyper-efficiency busboys so common these days, hovering and peering and distracting. We ended with good café Americano and a ricotta cheesecake, serviceable but a little dry, all for $130 for two. A little high for a neighborhood place, but that’s its niche, and on the east side, not out of line.
So glad you like it, Jolivore! This has become one of my new favorites. Sorry about the fish, though.
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