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“Dell'Anima”


  Occasion: Cuisine: Area: Cost: Rating:
  Night Out Italian West Village Moderate Good

confit (onions, garlic, and shallots, all from the—get it?—lily family) was one of my favorites—soft and sweet, with just the right nudge of chile heat, but the caponata was also terrific: sweet and sour and nutty, and good enough to spoon over bread or quite frankly a paper towel. The tuna rillette was not so much a rillette as a fresh Calabrian tuna salad treated to briny salt-slapped capers and smoky roasted red peppers. The last of the lot—the roasted beets—was the most captivating—a garnet dice spooned with mascarpone yogurt and toasted pistachios.

As we ate and drank the temperature seemed to climb even higher in that banquette next to the open kitchen and Alison was melting and decided it was time get undressed. She was wearing a black vest over a white button down shirt, and managed to somehow contort her body into a sort of pretzel, so that she removed her white shirt without taking off her vest. It was like something out of Cirque de Soleil. I have no idea what she can do with a cherry stem.

Thompson’s menu is nicely edited down to just seven antipasti, four pastas and five secondi. I’ve spoken about this before, but I’ll say it again: less is more. I don’t need a choice of a dozen cold and a dozen hot antipasti, and an equal number of pizzas, meat and fish entrees, and sides. Keep it simple and focused. In my experience, it undoubtedly reflects a more precise kitchen.

With four house-made pastas to chose from, Adrienne chimed in about what to order. “We need to have them all,” she declared, putting her menu down. This proposal (read: order) was met not met with even the slightest bit of resistance. How could we choose from tagliatelle Bolognese ($17), spaghetti neri ($18), pizzoccheri with sage, potato, garlic, brussel sprouts, and fontina ($15), and risotta alla pilota with sausage salumi and pecorino Romano ($18)? We couldn’t, and I’m glad we didn’t. The Bolognese was killer—a softly spiced luscious ragu spooned over a tangle of tagliatelle ribbons. The spaghetti neri was serious—black spaghetti cut with an inky calamari ragu that tasted like the sea salty air. But Thompson really got with the risotta alla “pilota”—more of an Italian sausage fried rice than a loose and creamy risotto dish. Thompson explained that this “pilota” style of risotto comes from the town of Mantova in L ... [more, click below]

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Other restaurants in West Village :
+ Jefferson-- Closed   + La Palapa Rockola   + Sumile   + Babbo   + Tasca   + AOC Bedford   + Home   + The Spotted Pig   + Barbuto   + Numero 26   + Mas   + August   + Alta   + Cru   + Blue Mill Tavern-- Closed   + Employees Only   + Lassi   + Metropol--Closed   + Turks and Frogs   + Bellavitae   + Yumcha-- CLOSED   + Gusto: SEE EARLIER REVIEW; THIS CHEF HAS LEFT GUSTO   + Perry Street   + Home   + Ditch Plains   + The Little Owl   + Cafe Condesa   + Cafe Cluny   + Gusto   + The Waverly Inn   + Morandi   + P*ONG   + Perilla   + Soto   + Market Table   + Centro Vinoteca   + Barfry   + Dell'Anima   + Bar Blanc   + Smith's   + Commerce   + Elettaria   + Bar Q   + Cabrito   + 10 Downing   + Minetta Tavern   + Braeburn   + Scuderia, by guest reviewer Kathleen Squires   + Bar Blanc Bistro by Guest Reviewer Kathleen Squires   + Joseph Leonard   + Bar Henry, by Guest Reviewer Kathleen Squires   + Kin Shop   + Monument Lane   + Wong   + Bin on Bleecker, by Dara Pollak   + Ristorante Rafele   + Cole's Greenwich Village by Guest Reviewer Claire Jaffe   


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