Venice via Brooklyn
Written: Sep 13 '00 (Updated Sep 13 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Cheap for its ambitious fare; intimate setting; some marvelous dishes
Cons: No reservations; very noisy at primetime
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| neffer's Full Review: Al di la Trattoria |
You live in Manhattan; I live in Brooklyn. You occasionally come to my neck of the woods to see shows at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. You have no idea where to go for dinner. I suggest walking to Park Slope's Fifth Avenue and Carroll Street area. You think "Oh, I've been to Cucina and Aunt Suzie's and Mike & Tony's! I don't want to pay Manhattan prices for a Brooklyn meal. But...I do want something memorable." Well, okay, how about Al Di La, a little Venetian place? I've been there twice now, and find it to be an incredible value.
Al Di La's small menu features some antipasto / appetizers ranging from simple green salads and “insalata del farro” to mussels on a bed of linguine and risotto of the day. Once, I had wanted to try the baccala, but I wasn’t feeling adventurous enough for a dish the waiter described as “whipped cod fish.”
The kitchen also offers “Primi Patti” or pasta, many of which are rich and hearty enough to be entrees. If you want a cheap dinner, the pasta plates cost an average of 9 bucks. On one night, the boyfriend and I entertained guests with a very late dinner. Al Di La's kitchen closes around 10:30, so we chose four pasta dishes.
I asked the waiter what “malfatti” was. He said “bad.” I assumed then that I was going to get some type of “broken” pasta dish. Malfatti actually translates to “badly made,” in this case “badly made” gnocchi. What a misnomer: my malfatti was a rich dish of six large pieces of gnocchi. Instead of ordinary spinach and starchy potato doughballs, my gnocchi was swiss chard and cheese (nary a trace of pasta) formed into dumplings. The malfatti was rather drenched in a small pool of brown butter dotted with sage and parmesan. This is one hearty dish.
The boyfriend had the casunziei ravioli. The kitchen used translucent dough sheets to create the visual effects here; the ravioli appeared brownish red, as they were filled with a beet and cheese mixture. A light butter sauce was served. Our guests had delved right into their pasta dishes: a duck ravioli in a cream sauce and tagliatelle with tomatoes. It's pretty obvious that Al Di La does pasta right!
When it was time for another visit at Al Di La, I decided that I would go for another serving of malfatti as well as a main entrée. Again, the malfatti was rich and filling. For my “Secondi” or main entrée, I choose Al Di La’s heralded braised rabbit on a bed of creamy polenta. What an incredible tender piece of meat this was! I don’t recall using my knife at all while eating this; the rabbit was very succulent and redolent of herbs, white wine and meat stock. The olive and peppercorn laced polenta was also satisfying.
The boyfriend chose the special “shishkabob” dinner. It may have looked disappointing in presentation, what with its two small kabobs over the same mound of polenta as my rabbit dish. However, the boyfriend loved each piece of meat (chicken, steak, veal and Italian ham) as well as large pieces of mushrooms and peppers. The sauce used in the preparation of his polenta was a darker and smokier version.
Desserts were simple but pleasing. My dessert was a take on the traditional Venetian gianduiotto (according to the article from the New York Times displayed prominently in the window of the restaurant). A rectangular bar of chocolate and hazelnut ice cream was wedged in the same type of drinking glass that Al Di La uses for water and beer (Morreti, by the way). The ice cream was surrounded by whipped cream. The dessert was not as sweet as one would have hoped. The boyfriend scored a better treat with Al Di La’s version of affogato: three scoops of vanilla bean-mottled ice cream topped with a praline crunch and then served with incredibly strong espresso poured all over the dish. I took one spoonful of his decadent dish and cursed myself for ordering the gianduiotto.
When we had initially dined at Al Di La with our two friends, the setting was quiet and intimate, due to the fact that it was 10:00 in the evening. My second meal took place on a Saturday night at 6:30, which may be the time NOT to go. Al Di La does not take reservations, so the tiny dining room was packed to the gills with noisy hipsters, BAM visitors and Park Slope couples. Service is fine, although I noted a long lag between courses at the full-house sitting, as there seemed to be a ratio of ten diners to one waiter. The interior of this place can be best described as "renovation-chic" with its antique chandelier, faded tiled floor and half-varnished ceilings.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
neffer
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Reviews written: 14
Trusted by: 6 members
About Me:
San Francisco, CA to Brooklyn, NY and back again
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