It takes guts to open an Italian restaurant in New York City. There are two, three, or four of them on many blocks. Red-sauce southern Italian spots, northern Italian olive-oil-dominated eateries, Italian fusions, trattorias, nouveau Italians, pizza-and-pasta storefronts, nouvelle Italians, and some way-out venues that feature dishes and ingredients that nobody in Naples would recognize, dot the city. (Some of it is so fancy, it no longer tastes Italian.)
Bistro Milano, which opened in February on restaurant-hot West 55th Street, doesn’t seem worried—and there’s good reason for its lack of concern. The restaurant is an offspring of Remi and Bice, and follows their very successful formula. It too is an elegant, inviting place that turns out superior versions of authentic, classic Italian dishes like lasagna, homemade spaghetti Bolognese and gnocchi, osso buco, veal scaloppini and Milanese, minestrone, and risotto.
If the sleek, handsome Bistro Milano isn’t a cutting-edge operation, it’s much more than a pretty face. Nearly every dish sampled at a recent dinner was more than solid—they were simply superb. A gracious, smiling waitress from Bologna offered straightforward descriptions of the evening’s specials with no flowery, extraneous information.
All the early signs were excellent, including a noteworthy bread basket that yielded some of the city’s best focaccia and a razor-thin, super light, pizza-shaped warm focaccia hors d’oeuvre that was a perfect partner for our drinks. Appetizers like a delicately dressed classic Caesar salad sporting long leaves of romaine lettuce surrounded by grilled shrimp and a scrumptious grilled octopus mélange of red onions and capers on a smooth, soothing platform of soft warm potato slices kept the winning streak going. The two no-filler crab cakes nicely blended the savory lump crab meat with a sweet chipotle sauce and the hearty Milanese-style minestrone was the perfect antidote for a brisk, late winter night.
Nothing trumped an exemplary entrée of slow-braised, buttery osso buco encircled by a ring of golden saffron-infused risotto. The kitchen has a knowing touch with the mostly housemade pastas as well. Rich, feathery gnocchi were earthy and elegant all at once, and a broad-shouldered lasagna Bolognese was bursting with flavor while a paella alla Valenciana Spanish interloper also delivered admirable taste.
Among the sweets savored were a silky crème brûleé, a luxuriant, warm chocolate cake with an oozing center, a tall rustic apple pie, and a New York Cheesecake with strawberry sauce that was simply sensational. 1350 Sixth Ave. (55 St.), 212-757-2600
Richard Jay Scholem was a restaurant critic for the New York Times Long Island Section for 14 years. His A La Carte Column appeared from 1990 to 2004. For more "Taste of the Town" reviews click here.
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