While traveling on a bus recently, I eavesdropped
as a couple described their relationship to a woman sitting beside
them. Being polite, she listened, nodded occasionally and murmured,
"Isn’t that nice," at the appropriate time. Oblivious
to their seatmate’s glazed eyes and frozen smile; the couple
continued their gushing descriptions of one another’s sensitivity,
intellect and sexual allure.
"She just gets me," he said of her.
"Yes, we’re soul mates," she sighed.
I’ll be kind and say that had these "soul mates" not
met, the chance of finding others who "just got them,"
would be slim.
Why one restaurant works in a location and another doesn’t, like
the smitten couple on the bus who had the unique ability to see
the positive in one another, can be chalked up to that intangible
something called chemistry.
Take 183 Seventh Ave. in Park Slope, now home to Porta Toscana,
a Tuscan-style eatery that opened in October. The expansive room
has played host to one failed restaurant after another, most
recently a Moroccan eatery where the number of patrons dining
at any given time topped out at 10.
Not easily spooked, the optimistic new owner, Ziva Assante, who
also owns the popular Bacco in SoHo, hopes to break the location’s
spell of bad luck by revamping the room and extending the menu
north of the Mediterranean Sea.
She has work ahead: While the redecorated room looks good, and
the menu is ambitious, both fall short.
The space now has a handsome Tuscan farmhouse theme with dark
wood walls, moody lighting and racks of rustic pottery. Even
with the apparent effort to create a comfortable setting, the
room retains a bit of the chilliness that haunted its predecessors.
A few bright splashes of color – maybe some vivid floral arrangements
– would be welcome.
Huge, square plates – the size of most serving platters – make
an artful presentation of the entrees. Unfortunately, a couple
seated at a table for two will find their platter-plates pushed
rim-to-rim; their wineglasses perched precariously on the table’s
edge; and their unused silverware tumbling to the floor.
Clattering silverware and overly intimate plates can be overlooked
if the food is terrific, and several of chef Vincenzo Spiritoso’s
dishes were very good – a pasta dish and his light desserts for
instance. A few, however, never hit the high notes.
Crostini, or crisp grilled Italian bread topped with a variety
of pates, is a traditional beginning to a Tuscan dinner. A chunky
chicken liver pate usually makes an appearance on a crostini
plate, and it is offered at Porta Toscana. A woodsy mushroom
pate and a complex and deliciously salty black olive pate were
gutsy and satisfying, while chopped tomato and basil dressed
with a fruity olive oil tasted like bland winter tomatoes.
A blend of beets and carrots produced gorgeous, ruby-red soup,
with a luxurious silkiness, but the sweet-with-sweet pairing
was too one-dimensional.
The outstanding dish of the evening was bowtie pasta tossed in
a rich pink sauce, and generously topped with pieces of tender
smoked salmon, creamy goat cheese and a healthy dollop of bright-orange
salmon caviar .
I’ve had similar dishes before, sans caviar, and they were sometimes
dull. Spiritoso’s version is perfection – the pasta al dente,
the salmon tender and flavorful, and the tangy sauce richly imbued
with the sunny flavor of fresh tomatoes. Cool, popping beads
of caviar added textural interest.
A brawny sauce of broccoli rabe, garlicky fennel-studded sausage
and anchovies, was undone by house-made orecchiette (little ear-shaped
pasta). The pasta, undercooked to a state of hyper-chewiness,
made eating more than one mouthful too labor intensive.
Melted pecorino cheese, zucchini and cherry tomatoes made a pleasant
sauce for penne.
An entree of roasted rack of lamb, a Tuscan specialty – five
small chops ringing the edge of the plate, cooked rare as ordered
– were mild tasting, without that funky mineral taste some lamb-lovers
prefer. (I’m one of them.) The piney scent and clean herbal flavor
of rosemary, used to season the meat, went a long way in enhancing
its flavor and aroma. On the plate were wedges of oven-baked
potatoes, perfectly cooked, crisp string beans and julienned
carrots. Smoky, sweet, grilled red pepper slices added plenty
of color to the plate.
A coarse, sweet-and-sour, apple and onion sauce couldn’t perform
the necessary CPR needed on tough, thinly sliced pork chops.
The same sides served with the lamb accompanied the chops with
less success. Red peppers with pork chops can be delicious, but
the apple, pork chop and pepper combination made for a cacophonous
threesome.
Desserts ended the meal on an up note. Tiramisu, a layered dessert
of sponge cake, moistened with espresso and spread with pillowy
mounds of whipped mascarpone cheese has become a regular on many
Italian dessert menus. Here it’s feather-light with the espresso
cutting the sweetness of the whipped cheese.
A drizzle of honey over the top of damp, dense, yet not heavy,
classic ricotta cheesecake added an engaging floral note to the
dessert.
Can Porta Toscana become a neighborhood crowd-pleaser? The possibility
is there, but in the meantime, a lot of wand-waving needs to
happen to break the spell cast on Porta Toscana’s location.
Porta Toscana (183 Seventh Ave. between
First and Second streets in Park Slope) accepts Visa and MasterCard.
Entrees: $18-$25. For reservations, call (718) 499-3746.
