Bartolino's - $25 Dinner Special

Bartolino's - 34-15 Broadway, Astoria, NY 11106

718.728.0430

N/W Train to Broadway

www.bartolinosastoria.com

I walked by Bartolino's on Broadway last week and spied an interesting--and affordable--dinner special:

Prix-Fix 3 Course Menu

Until 6p, daily (includes weekends)

$25 per person

1st Course:

Rigatoni al Filetto di Pomodoro- sauteed prosciutto, onion and plum tomatoes

2nd Course:

Chicken Marsala - chicken breast sauteed in marsala wine and mushrooms

Filet of Sole Oreganata - sauteed in olive oil, garlic, white wine and seasoned bread crumbs

Veal Parmigiana - breaded veal cutlet topped with mozzarella and tomato sauce

All dishes above served with vegetables of the day

3rd Course:

Tiramisu

Enjoy this reasonable special and if you're not in the mood for such an extensive meal, Bartolino's has plenty of other dishes that will satiate you after 6p. Remember that this place is closed on Tuesdays so scratch that night off your list--but all other nights are wide open.

Rosario's - Old-School Gourmet Italian Deli

Rosario's Deli - 22-55 31st Street, Astoria, NY 11105

718.728.2920

N/W Train to Ditmars Blvd (last stop)

I stumbled upon Rosario's yesterday afternoon on my way to Key Food. On a mission to get good brie and light snacks for our dinner guests Lauren and Keith, I peeked inside and liked what I saw. After my great experience, I'll definitely be hitting it up again for quality specialty foods.

Upon walking in, I immediately saw that this was a traditional, old-school, Italian deli--cured meats and cheeses displayed by the deli counter and neatly stacked shelves of specialty pasta, sauce, olive oil and various chocolates, both domestic and international. The staff is hospitable and really seem to know their customers--they're nice Italian guys who smile a lot and spend time with customers, making small-talk.

Browsing through the shelves and the deli section of Rosario's, I was impressed with their goods:

• Gourmet pasta and olive oil
• Mozzarella bufala so fresh, it was still warm
• Eurocrem, which is similar to Nutella but in addition to hazelnut, it also contains milk creme
• Fresh pizza dough, which you can take home to make your own pie
• All types of Baci chocolates
• Specialty sandwiches made-to-order (i.e. mortadella, fresh mozzarella, lettuce, tomatoes and roasted peppers--$4.95)
• Other specialty snacks such as Serendipity 3 Frozen Hot Chocolate Mix

I ended up buying a block of Le Chatelain Camembert, which is a creamy French cheese that's very much like a brie. Our guests seemed to like it a lot and I cut up half of it yesterday and the other half I saved to bake and garnish with strawberry preserves ($4.99). It was hard to pass up the Serendipity Hot Chocolate Mix so that went into my basket too for a whopping $4.99. It's a specialty product after all, so I was OK with paying a premium.

Rosario's will remain on my must-list in the future and if you haven't been there yet, I urge you to stop in--you'll be glad that you did.

Sac's Place - Disappointment in a Box

Sac's Place - 25-41 Broadway, Astoria 11106
718.204.5002
N/W Train to Broadway
www.sacsplace.com

A lot of people have raved about Sac's coal oven pizza and although I've had it once already, it was just a quick bite that wasn't truly savored. Dan and I decided to give this place a real try and ordered their much-talked-about coal oven marinara pizza with sauteed peppers.

We ordered this pie to go and I do realize that with take-out, quality sometimes suffers but this pizza didn't meet any expectations--low or high. I'm sorry to report such disappointing news and I hope that it was a fluke but our anticlimactic pizza was also coupled by sloppy and inefficient service. First though, the pizza...

Marinara Pie with Sauteed Red Peppers:
As I mentioned, I was so looking forward to this pizza. After all, they boast high quality ingredients such as homemade mozzarella and Italian San Marzano tomatoes baked in an authentic coal oven. Naturally, I was expecting the best--crispy crust, light-tasting toppings and a hot pie. However, the pizza we got didn't have any of this foretold goodness.

First off, it wasn't hot, it was barely lukewarm (granted we were 5 minutes late for our pick-up so we'll take partial blame but 5 minutes shouldn't make such a difference). The crust wasn't crispy at all, in fact it was too weighed down by toppings, making it soggy. Dan reheated it on our pizza stone at home and that improved it slightly but overall it still wasn't as crispy as it should've been. The seasoning also needed help and we had to reapply salt, pepper and oregano to improve its bland taste. I think you get the point, Sac's pizza made for a disappointing end to a long week.

Service and Cost:
Sac's is divided into two sections, the restaurant and the take-out counter. I walked into the restaurant by mistake and got a glimpse of the atmosphere. It seemed quiet, nice and well run. Now the take-out area was something else. There was a long line of waiting customers and one person seemed to be doing all the work--reheating the pizza and ringing up the customers. This just didn't seem fair and I'm guessing that the quality of our pizza suffered for this reason. The guy wasn't too friendly but how could you blame him? I'd be crabby too if I had to serve a long line of customers while another "colleague" stood next to me chatting up a customer like he had all the time in the world. Not right.

In terms of the cost, Sac's is expensive. We paid $15.50 for a 14" crappy pizza, which we had to fix up at home.

No Mmmms

Bella Via - A Cozy Pasta Heaven

Bella Via - 47-46 Vernon Blvd, LIC, NY 11101
718.361.7510
7 Train to Vernon Blvd/Jackson Ave
www.bellaviarestaurant.com

Bella Via was recommended to me by Vivian, owner of the Little Soap Shop and by my cousin Vicky. It's hard to find quality Italian and this place seemed cozy, nice and reasonably priced. Dan and I had dinner there this past Friday and were very happy with the food. The service still has a ways to go, but overall it was a good experience.

Atmosphere:
Bella Via has a very homey, comfortable feel. It's a warm place to be, both in the literal and figurative sense--the brick oven provides the physical warmth while friends and family give-off a happy, social vibe. The place was bumpin' on Friday night, and especially for a late dinner--we left around 10p and Bella showed no signs of slowing down. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves just like at a big Italian family dinner. Even though Bella is loud and boisterous, there were plenty of couples enjoying quality time, making this great for intimate evenings as well as for big social dinners.

Food:
The food is the area with which we were wowed. Everything was fresh, not heavy and seasoned really well. We got to sample a little bit of seafood as well as their starchy dishes:

Baked Clams Oreganato: We pretty much knew what to expect here--large clams, bread crumbs, butter, lemon, the works. But what we got was all that and so much more! The clams themselves were on the smaller side but so incredibly fresh that we were excited to have four pieces each. The sauce, which they floated on was the best part. While it had tomato in it, it was white wine based and so light that after the clams were gone, we dipped all of our bread into it and basically licked the plate clean.

Gnocchetti di Ricotta e Spinaci: This was my choice for entree and despite its name, "gnocchetti" or small gnocchi they definitely were not small. These were handmade spinach gnocchi that not only tasted delicious on their own, when dipped into the amazing white wine sauce described above, they were pure heaven. The only thing I had qualms with were the Kalamata olives in this dish. They were too salty and did not enhance the gnocchetti at all--they slightly took away from them. Dan tried my dish too and agreed--unbelievable gnocchi, the olives on the other hand were meh.

Tagliatelle with Shrimp and Sun-Dried Tomatoes: What caught Dan's attention about this dish was the shrimp. It was cooked perfectly, which is hard to find in restaurants. The pasta itself was also tasty and cooked al-dente. Once mixed (again) with the delicious white wine sauce, the pasta, the sun-dried tomatoes and the yummy shrimp, it made for a solid dish. Dan enjoyed it but mentioned many times that he liked my gnocchetti better.

Even though we weren't in the mood for this, I must mention that Bella Via also serves a variety of coal fired brick oven pizzas. From Pizza Margherita to Arugula with Prosciutto di Parma to Robiola Cheese with Truffle Oil, this seemed to be a popular dish to order.

Service and Cost:
The service was where I saw need for improvement. First off, our menus weren't given to us immediately, which was a bit strange. We sat there waiting for them and when they finally arrived and we looked through them, it took long for the waitress to come back and take our order.

Another bizarre occurrence was the absence of a bread basket. We were beginning to think that they don't serve them here but then I spied one at a table across from us. Where was ours? It came about 15-20 minutes after we ordered. While the dishes took a while to get to us, they were so delicious that we didn't let the service bother us.

Bella is moderately priced for an Italian joint. Antipasti range between $6.95-$11.95, pasta between $11.95-$15.95, pizza between $10.95-$18.95 and traditional entrees between $14.95-$23.95. Our dinner total was $70, which included 2 alcoholic drinks, an appetizer, two pasta entrees with tax and tip.

2 Mmmms

Il Bambino Cafe - Panini Squisiti

Il Bambino Cafe - 34-08 31st Avenue, Astoria, NY 11106

718.626.0087

N/W Train to Broadway or 30th Avenue

www.ilbambinocafe.com

Il Bambino has been the talk of the town since it opened its doors less than two years ago. This place is known for amazing paninis made out of simple, quality ingredients. Friends from the neighborhood have been talking it up so much that I finally went over there after my Sunday afternoon bellydancing ritual. I'm not exaggerating when I say that my life will never be the same--this is some good, not-to-be-missed stuff!

Atmosphere:

As I already hinted, Il Bambino is simple and on the small side yet its decor is tasteful and charming. I especially love the wall of rustic mirrors juxtaposed with the wall of wooden cutting boards and paddles. The front of the house shows an oversized wall painting of a pink, fleshy pig, arrows pointing to the parts of the body that produce prosciutto, speck, cappa, sopressata and your other favorite cured meats.

The vibe here is really fun and casual. Young patrons occupy small wooden tables, they chat freely and listen to the upbeat music coming from the sound system. I was pleasantly surprised by some of the music selections--a jazz rendition of Amy Winehouse's "Rehab" and Britney Spears' "Toxic." I know, I know, cheesy as hell but I promise that the jazz versions were awesome.

Food:

The main reason for our visit was of course to sample the famous paninis. We took our panini tasting very seriously, ordering three different kinds and sharing them with each other --a fun way to experience a variety of flavors and I recommend it. Here's what we tried:

Root Vegetable Soup: This was a group starter and what a beautiful introduction to our meal it was! The soup was topped with a warm pesto flatbread, which we split into thirds and dipped into the soup. I couldn't decide which was better--to eat it on its own or to submerge it into the creamy soup. I'd get this again in a heartbeat and because the portion was generous, we hung on to it for dipping sauce for our paninis.

Fried Eggplant: Served with fresh tomatoes and basil pesto, this was our only veggie panini and it happened to be my favorite. Despite being fried, the eggplant was very light and enhanced nicely by the pesto. My mom pointed out that it was not overly garlicky like some pestos can be and I think that's what made it yummy. Bravo for the pesto!

Prosciutto: This meaty panini also included tangy Gorgonzola cheese and sweet fig spread. The figs gave it a "desserty" taste, providing a nice contrast to the other more salty paninis. Although my dining companions loved this dish, I'm not a huge fan of cooked prosciutto. I would've preferred if the prosciutto was added at the last minute in its original form.

Sunday Special - Soppressata: Served with fontina cheese and sliced green apples, this sounded too good to pass up. The apples were paper thin, a perfect complement to the salty soppressata and the stringy fontina. I'd say that this pannini was the gentlest of the bunch and I could've finished the whole thing myself.

In addition to paninis, Il Bambino also boasts a sampling of tapas.

Service and Cost:
Absolutely no complains about the service--our waitress was laid back, pleasant and our plates appeared and disappeared in good time. Another positive is that we didn't have to wait long for the check. The staff at the front counter was friendly and welcoming too, answering our questions about their impressive, colossal cupcakes.

Cost-wise, Il Bambino is wallet friendly--$4 for soup and crostini, $6-$10 for antipasti, $7-$8 for salads and tapas, and $7.50-$8.50 for paninis. Il Bambino is a BYOB establishment, which fits its personality--so come by for lunch or dinner and bring a bottle of white with ya.

3 Mmmms