Italian vs. I-talian vs. New Yorkese

Travel Blog  •  David Farley  •  01.23.09 | 9:47 AM ET

Missy Robbins, the new chef at the posh New York City eatery A Voce, was relatively unknown to the New York City fooderati. That is, until Barack Obama came along. Robbins was the chef at Chicago’s Spiaggia restaurant. Like A Voce, Spiaggia serves up lauded Italian cuisine in a chic setting. And Obama was a regular, thanks, apparently, to Chef Robbins’ wood-fired scallops, among other menu items. With the circus surrounding the Inauguration, I decided to dine at A Voce a few days ago, hoping I’d get a chance to taste what kept Obama coming back to Spiaggia again and again (he was just there last month, in fact).

But I couldn’t share Obama’s enthusiasm for Chef Robbins’ cooking. The sardines, which were partially encrusted with bread crumbs, offered a nice texture, but disguised the taste of the fish (and could have used some more citrus to help bring out the flavor). The tagliatelle in the oxtail ragu was perfectly cooked, but the ragu itself was ho-hum and tasteless. By the end of the meal, my palate was underwhelmed. To be fair, I had rather high expectations—not just because of Chef Robbins’ past tenure at an Obama haunt, but because the restaurant’s acclaimed reputation preceded her. It also didn’t help that I was paying $25 for that bowl of oxtail tagliatelle. Had it been, say, half the price, I would have been more tolerant to a little blandness. At least, I thought, the dishes at A Voce weren’t, what I call, New Yorkese cuisine, Italian with French ambitions: for example, three raviolis stuffed with foie gras and drizzled with a pistachio sauce. Still, I sat there there waiting for my inflated bill to arrive, wondering—questioning, really—if President Obama boasts the refined palate I thought he did.

But maybe Mr. Obama just doesn’t know real Italian food—not realizing that the elevated stuff and the sloppy overly sauced I-talian dishes (otherwise known as Italian-American) comprise really an entirely different cuisine from the common salt-of-the-earth trattoria fare found in Italy.

When I was living in Rome a year ago, I ate at a different restaurant every night (much to the demise of my girlish figure) until I found a couple restaurants that were so consistently delicious I didn’t want to eat anywhere else.

So when President Obama makes his first state visit to Rome, here are a few restaurants he should visit:

Berlusconi will probably want to take him to La Pergola, the three-star Michelin-rated restaurant that’s headed by a German (Heinz Beck). Skip it. Instead Obama should insist on going to the Trastevere neighborhood. Specifically to Da Enzo (Via dei Vascellari 29), a dozen-table restaurant that’s popular with the locals and off the tourist radar (maybe not after this post goes live, however). Da Enzo’s no-frills, plus-size-portioned pastas—which run in the $10 range—are like crack disguised as durum wheat flour. I swore they were dumping cans of MSG in the Norcina, a sausage-laden pasta sauce that’s common in the region of Umbria, and the eggy carbonara (a Roman classic).

Across the neighborhood is Da Lucia (Vicolo da Mattonato 2). It may not be easy to find, but once you settle in, you won’t regret the seemingly aimless wander through the narrow streets of Trastevere. Da Lucia, one of the few restaurants in Italy that understands lighting (or a refreshing lack thereof), is famous for serving near-perfect spaghetti alla gricia, a classic Roman pasta dish of pecorino and pancetta. Simple fare, but explosive in flavor. After sampling the simply prepared sardines, dressed only with a drizzle of lemon, you’ll never want to eat another anywhere else (especially if it’s encrusted with bread crumbs).
There’s not much of a sign outside Sora Margherita (Piazza della Cinque Scuole 30). But if you can find this busy but diminutive eatery between the Tiber River and the ghetto, you’ll find a gaggle of cramped tables and waiters yelling out orders to Margherita in her closet-sized kitchen. The simple pastas go a long way. Fettuccini cacio e pepe (cheese and pepper) is about as simple as a dish could get, yet is fully satiating.

Tags: Barack Obama, Food, Restaurants, Europe, Italy, Rome, North America, United States, Illinois, Chicago, New York, New York City, News and Briefs


1 Comment for Italian vs. I-talian vs. New Yorkese

Darrin 01.24.09 | 10:01 PM ET

Thanks for the suggestions.  I would not take any recommendations from Berlusconi either, since he doesn’t even like garlic.

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