I do wish they served their linguine with clams in the shell, but the ziti with broccoli di rape and sausage ($22) is one of the best on the street.įor main courses the usual veal dishes are available, and the chicken alla scarpariellowith tomatoes, peppers and garlic ($21) is hearty and worthwhile. One day it might be an oval platter of linguine topped with an abundance of tender calamari in tomato sauce on another paccheriin a chili-spiked arabbiata-style sauce ($18). The pastas are rustic, hearty and the portions large. So, too, mussels alla marinara ($18) is a good choice. I recommend with gusto a perfectly tender stuffed roast artichoke ($15), whose leaves you dip into olive oil with a little salt and pepper and nibble on till the pastas arrive. There is a menu somewhere, but your waiter will yell you what’s on special that day in a desultory recitation about a couple of antipasti, a couple of pastas and a couple of main courses, which is similar to the way it’s done in trattoria in Italy, and you can be sure the day’s offerings have just been made that morning. It’s a small room with a small bar and a wine list that is a choice of red or white (and they do push the expensive Brunello). Hearty portions are key to Dominick's appeal, like these pork chops with vinegar peppers. The crowd now seems to be more regulars and a few Saturday tourists with a Time-Out guidebook in hand.

Instead the clientele was always more locals and tourists from New Canaan and Short Hills, along with devoted local regulars. Not too many years ago, Dominick’s was cast by ill-informed and bigoted snob critics at the New York Times and New York magazine as a place where gawking out-of-towners could go to get a taste of a Sopranos episode, with people expecting to see a bunch of goombahs sitting around planning a heist. Some would say that’s part of the restaurant’s unpretentious charm and non-nonsense ambiance, which extends to the staff whose usual greeting is, “How many in your party?” and doesn’t get much cheerier. Linguine with abundant calamari is a specialty at Dominick's John Marianiĭominick’s will never win any points for its décor, which aside from old tables set with old oilcloth and chairs verging on the antique, is pretty much non-existent. At first I thought the burrata was mistakenly served cold until I tasted it against the warmth of the shrimp, which was magnificent. One dish, seemingly ubiquitous these days, shows how distinctive Roberto’s fare is: A bulb of cream-filled burrata mozzarella comes slightly cold, and when you cut into it and the cream flows, it does so onto a plate of cooked sweet shrimp. Coming from a family of eleven kids, Roberto is not about to skimp on his portions, and, although his menu prices are slightly higher than elsewhere in the neighborhood, it’s because his food is quite different, quite seasonal and based on expensive ingredients no one else is using. It’s a handsome, two-level place with a wine list of enormous breadth and depth. But his flagship is Roberto’s, now open fifteen years, and actually around the corner from Arthur Avenue. Almost all of his ventures have succeeded, including two restaurants on Arthur Avenue, two in Westchester and one in Manhattan (four under the Zero Otto Nove banner). Roberto Paciullo was born under a benevolent star. Roberto's tubettini with clams, mussels and lava beans John Mariani

Trattoria tra di noi