<< previous review   next review >>

reviews

“Ristorante Rafele”

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

sauce, bubbles of milky mozzarella and torn basil leaves. Pass around a plate of arancini, lightly fried balls that marry creamy risotto with four melting cheeses ($13). This is one relationship that will not end in divorce. You’ve never had meatballs like his polpette ($13). Made from veal and pork, and napped in tomato sauce, they are oval in shape, and slightly flattened, like a meatball that desperately wants to become a slider. You won’t care what they are or hope to be; you will just want them.

Rafele has been cooking pasta almost as long as he’s been alive, so you’re in good hands here. He’s doing to gnocchi what April Bloomfield did for gnudi. These fork-printed clouds, just as light and airy as a breeze, are served with cherry tomatoes and basil, with melted tallegio. Spinach ravioli are plumped up with buffalo ricotta and sauced in brown butter and sage ($17), while house made tagliolini gets an earthy turn with forest mushrooms and truffle pate ($16).  

You may think you don’t like swordfish (M/P), but you’ve never had Rafele’s swordfish. It’s sliced thin, so it’s not so much a steak but a filet, then drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt, marked on the grill, cooked lightly so its flesh is moist, sweet, and flaky and served with tomatoes, garlic, capers, and olives, and a little mound of spinach. Steak, too, gets treated right ($27). Seared so its crust is salty and its center pink and juicy, it is set up with salsa verde and nothing more. The steak is seriously good, but the nothing more part is a bummer (though classically Italian), so you will want to add some sides (all $7). Perhaps some potatoes (they come oven-roasted with rosemary and Himalayan salt), or some broccoli rabe with pepperoncino and Cerignola olives.

The wine list, by Pierluigi Ossani, is terrific. It takes Italy on from North to South, and offers a nice selection of wines, but I’d like to see a few more options under $40. He served us a wonderful pairing with our meal, starting off with glasses of Moscato Giallo from Castelfeder, then Greco di Tufo from Terre d’Ora, and a Vermentino from Pala. A Pinto Nero from Maso Michei and an Aglianico from Feudi finished us off. Well, that’s not all together true. The tiramisu finished us off. As did the cheesecake.

These are the kinds of dessert my dad loves, but more often than not, I’ve ... [more, click below]

Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  

 Make a reservation

<< previous review   next review >>

Posted: August 2, 2012

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   

Share ! Post a comment