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“A Voce”

Occasion:	Cuisine:	Area:	Cost:	Rating:
Night Out	Italian	Murray Hill	Moderate	Great

ipe. (Scott and Jodie Sue shared this dessert with us as well. It was hilarious at this point, getting donations from around the restaurant.) The panna cotta was more like pudding, but it was a crazy good pudding at that. She also makes a light and frosty almond granita ($8) and her own creamy gelato ($8)—the mint was my favorite—which she will peddle outside the restaurant as the weather warms, giving Shake Shack a little competition.

For me, there was only one discordant note about A Voce, and it may be of little consequence because the food is flawless and you are going to want to eat here regularly. (I will be stopping in at least once a week for a bowl of pasta, a glass of wine, and that citrus coppa). But nonetheless, it is something that struck me and I wanted to point it out.

I believe that the food and the design of a restaurant should speak the same language. And at A Voce, they are speaking in totally different tongues. While the food is warm, homey, and intensely satisfying, the dining room design is the complete opposite. A Voce is neither warm nor comforting. It is sleek and contemporary and not all together an unattractive room, but it feels like a boardroom. It actually reminded me of the LDR (aka the Lawyer’s Dining Room) at the law firm I used to work at, Shearman and Sterling. It’s feels way too corporate to be a restaurant, with its cool swivel Eames chairs, hard wood floors, glass windows, and high gloss walls. You feel like someone is about to give a Power Point on the way to make Carmellini’s Grandma’s Meat Ravioli. (Now that is one presentation I would stay awake for.)

Also, there are too many hard, cold surfaces in the restaurant, none of which absorb any sound, which makes the act of conversation at A Voce an Olympic sport. I was hoarse from screaming and my ears were worn out from straining to hear what was being said at my table. A dry erase board (which would fit in with the boardroom décor) should be given to every table for ease of communication.

Now, to be sure, those cool Eames swivel chairs are quite comfy and do come in handy while dining because the place is like a foodie’s edition of Us Weekly. I mean it’s a connect-the-dots game of who’s who. The night I was in, I swiveled one way to say hello to Arthur Schwartz and Rosanne Gold, swiveled around the other way, and got to chat with Marc Murphy and the entire crew ... [more, click below]

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Posted: April 16, 2006

Other restaurants in Murray Hill :
+ Breakfast at The Cafe at Country   + A Voce   + Country (Upstairs)   + Darna   + Penelope   

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