Bianca

[SobaAddict70]

The menu is from Emiglia-Romagna, as is Mr. Quadalti. Thus are plates of delicate, fragrant gnocco fritto, or yeasty, pillow-shaped fritters, served alongside dabs of Stracchino cheese or fans of salume: coppa, mortadella, salami, silky prosciutto di Parma.

Bianca (Sam Sifton) (from this weekend's DIGEST update. You may have to scroll down for the appropriate link.)

Chef Giancarlo Quadalti and his partner, Roberta Riccioli, also of Teodora in Midtown East and Celeste on the Upper West Side, have come up with a restaurant that evokes an Italian latteria or dairy store.

Bianca

5 Bleecker Street

tel.: (212) 260-4666

Soba

[slkinsey]

This sounds very interesting. I'll definitely try to check it out.

[Pan]

Thanks, Stan. I'll walk past this place one of these days. But why does Sifton think it's so improbable someone's child will be making a debut at CBGB's?

[jogoode]

I haven't been this excited about a new restaurant in a while! Too bad I couldn't get there before it was written up.

[baw]

I went to Bianca last night with 4 friends .. it was a wonderful meal.

Here is what i remember:

I looked briefly at the wine list, and just asked for a recommendation

from the 'Good Values' section. There were many (20-30?) red wine

'good values', which I believe is less than $40 a bottle. We started

out sharing some antipasti: a house-marinated sardine special, fried

baby artichokes+parsley, grilled radicchio w/ proscuitto and

parmesean. I only tried the artichoke and radicchio dish and they

were delicious (esp the radicchio)! The portions were large enough to

share, but modest enough to consume by yourself. For my entree, I had

thin sliced filet mingon, barely seared and generously seasoned with

salt and rosemary. The meat was juicy and tender; I loved it. It

came with some very tasty roasted potatoes. My friends ordered the

rack of lamb special, tagliatelle with ragu, and another pasta with

sausage and red peppers. I didn't taste anyone else's entrees, but

everyone seemed to enjoy their selections. For dessert, we shared:

tiramisu, tartufo, panna cotta, and a plate w/ 4 cheeses. The

desserts were all presented nicely. I enjoyed the panna cotta the

most .. it was sweet and vanilla-y (i think), just how I like it.

Does the preparation of panna cotta differ between different regions

of Italy? The other desserts were nice. The cheeses we had were: a

mild, gooey taleggio, a pecorino, a gorgonzola, and a young

something-or-other hard cheese. They were served with 2 different

honeys for the hard cheeses and 2 different marmalade-type condiments

for the softies. The taleggio was my favorite, but they were all good.

Overall, we had a delicious meal and great service; I will definitely

be going back. Not including specials (I didn't see the bill) the

antipasti were ~$7-10, the entrees were $9-$15, and the desserts

(except cheese plate) were $6. The wine we drank was $27.

[joyvan]

I went to Bianca Saturday night at 6:30 with three companions, and had a wonderful meal. We had no trouble sitting down at 6:30, but the line was down the block by the time we emerged.

We started with fried artichokes, which came on an enormous nest of fried parsley -- tasty-- and a decent artichoke salad and unmemorable radicchio with prosciutto. We also ordered the chicken livers. Now, recently I ordered a chicken liver appetizer at Tournesol (which was fabulous, btw) which was a small, delicate plate of endive topped with about four well-done lobes. Lovely, filling, a great starter. The chicken liver appetizer at Bianca was truly massive. Three of us ate all the bloody rare chicken liver we could eat, and had to leave some behind. That's one appetizer plate between three healthy gals, folks.

I followed up with the fritto misto: calamari, red snapper, shrimp and zucchini. A mound of crispiness twice the size of my head, and every bite delicious.

I seem to have forgotten what it's like to eat Italian food. Abbondanza indeed.

Others had the "boiled giant fresh sausage" with mashed potatoes (cotechino) which got raves, the mackerel which I heard was so-so (I didn't try it) and the spaghetti pomodoro (forgive her -- she's pregnant and picky.)

I had a nice glass of unidentified merlot -- several intriguing bottles on the list, but I was the only one indulging, so that'll have to wait till next time.

One more plus: staggeringly good-looking, friendly waitstaff with exquisite accents.

Loved it. Will go again.

Joy

[Pan]

Thanks for that nice inaugural post, Joy. I hope you stick around and post more.

[slkinsey]

Ate there last PM with bergerka and ewindels. What a great place and what a great bargain!

When we arrived (around 7:30 on a Saturday night) the place was jumping. The host took my name and suggested we take a drink at the bar next door where he would find us when our table was ready. The bar is a typical self-consciously downdown-drab-hip place. We had "gimlets" that were made with fresh lime juice. Not really a gimlet, of course, but a nice refreshing drink nonetheless. Anyway, this gives you a good picture of what the staff is like at Bianca: after around 15 minutes I noticed that I hadn't seen the guy from Bianca come in to the bar to fetch anyone, so I decided to poke my head out and see what was what. As it so happened, the host was standing in front of the restaurant taking some new names for the list. He looked up and immediately said, "Don't worry Sam, I haven't forgotten about you. Your table will open up soon and I'll come in to pick you up." Didn't have to refer to his list to remember my name or anything. And, true to his word, he came in to get us about 5 minutes later.

The room is small and was completely filled, which one would expect at 8:00 on Saturday night. Our table was quite comfortable, but we did note a few two-tops along the back wall that looked a little cramped.

So, the meal started with some very nice bread and a puddle of excellent, green evoo. For antipasti we split the gnocco fritto and the sauteed fegatini. The gnocco fritto (always referred to in the singular, for some reason, even though there are always several to a serving) was a plate with six warm, pillowey, rectangles of biscuit-like dough fried in olive oil and served with either salumi or cheese. We opted for the salumi, and got some nice pieces of sopressata, prosciutto, mortadella and coppa. Nothing like draping a piece of salume over a warm gnocco so the pork fat melts into the dough. This dish was absolutely corrrect. The star of the antipasti, however, was the sauteed chicken livers glazed with balsamic vinegar. Simply put, this dish was perfect... and perfectly huge! Take warning, no one person should order this antipasto. There must have been 20 chicken livers! The livers were cooked just right. Pink in the middle with a light texture, and without that aggressive "livery" flavor of overcooked liver. The sweet balsamic vinegar mingled with the cooking liquids exuded from the livers to make a simple sauce. The dish is presented with a mound of livers poured over three pieces of bread, and we found ourselves emptying the bread basket to soak up all the sauce as we finished the livers. To be honest, if one is going to go the antipasto-primo-secondo-dolce route, the chicken livers alone would be plenty of antipasto for a party of four.

For the primi we split two dishes. First was a nicely done taglierini ai frutti di mare. This had excellent, firm pasta, a nicely spicy tomato-based sauce and good seafood (shrimp, clams, mussels, squid). The shellfish were, in the Italian style, still in the shell. It was a very nice dish, appropriately sized and quite tasty. My only criticism is that the ratio of pasta to condiment wasn't high enough. There should have been, in my opinion, about 25% more pasta and 25% less other stuff. It is a testament to the quality at Bianca that this truly minor defect made the taglierini the worst dish of the evening. We also shared a nice plate of gnocchi con fontina. These were nicely light potato gnocchi (slightly green, so I assume there was some spinach in there as well) served in a creamy and ever so slightly funky fontina sauce. Gnocchi are not easy to do well in a busy small restaurant, and these are among the best and the lightest I've had in the city. Certainly they blow away any other gnocchi one is likely to get at this price point around here.

For the secondi we each had separate plates. ewindels had cotechino con purè di patate. The cotechino was simply poached and presented in thick coins around a modest mound of pureed potatoes. The sausage was excellent (probably from Faicco) and the potatoes were very potatoey -- rich without being overly filling and buttery. Apparently a little parmigiano reggiano is the secret to the potatoes. You couldn't taste it, but it certainly made its presence felt. bergerka had pan seared thin slices of fillet with oven roasted potatoes and rosemary. Very nicely done. ewindels and I couldn't help thinking that it would have made one of the best steak sandwiches ever. The meat was cooked on one side anc nicely red on the other, so it didn't result in the well-done mess one normally expects from shaved meat. This helped it to retain a good beefy flavor (which is saying something, considering that it's fillet). I had salsicce con fagioli -- three small, flavorful sweet sausages (again, probably from Faicco) in a dish of tender white beans with tomato, garlic and onion. Everything gave evidence of havng been cooked together for a long time. The dish was peasantey satisfying, and I'm thinking there had to be a bit of veal glace or something in the beans because the intensity of flavor was great.

For dessert we shared three dolci: a ricotta cheesecake, a tortino di cioccolato and ciambella con mascarpone. The ricotta cheesecake was light and lemony, moister and less crumbly than most examples. The chocolate mousse cake had a deep chocolate flavor and came with a dense, irregular scoop of whipped cream (we at first thought it might have included ricotta or mascarpone, because the texture was not light and it looked almost grainy, but the host explained that they achieved the texture by whipping heavy cream by hand only). For me, the ciambella was the best. Three slices of a crumbly traditional yellow cake with a scoop of liquor-infused mascarpone cream over the top. A little glass of vin santo and it would have been perfection.

All of the above, plus two glasses of quotidien but acceptable chianti came to only $120! We tipped a generous 25% and still felt it was a bargain at $50 each.

[jogoode]

Gnocchi are not easy to do well in a busy small restaurant, and these are among the best and the lightest I've had in the city. Certainly they blow away any other gnocchi one is likely to get at this price point around here.

Great report, Sam!

Celeste also does a great job with gnocchi. But the chicken livers at Celeste have always been overcooked. I'll have to try them at Bianca.

Did they offer a cheese plate?

[slkinsey]

Did they offer a cheese plate?

There was one on the menu, but they weren't pushing it. Cheeses chosen by the same guy as Celeste.

[weinoo]

I, too, had a great meal at Bianca on Saturday night - early (6 p.m.). With a pretty darn good bottle of wine from Puglia for $20 as well.

I've always liked Celeste, so the fact that Bianca was easily as good (and a hell of a lot closer to home) didn't surprise. Cheese guy is Carmine, and he's quite the character.

Since there have already been so many good reviews, suffice to say that this place is a winner.

[badthings]

We went last month, the week after the Times article, and had a great meal. It wasn't even that crowded, then. Our waiter was a very nice kid, who was really from Romagna. It wasn't hard to find a good deal on the wine list. It was astonishingly cheap. I couldn't quite believe I was in NYC.

Sadly, no grappa.

[slkinsey]

Sadly, no grappa.

I know! What's up with that?

It just doesn't seem like a nice trattoria meal unless the host plies you with local grappa which is, of course, "much better than the stuff from that other town people talk about."

[ned]

I've eaten at Bianca twice. Excellent vittles, fabulous service. I second, third and fourth all of the above. But I'd like to make one comment and it's a conditional one. I know how expensive it is to run a restaurant in NYC and that the more tables there are, the better likelihood there is a restaurant might break even. Not to mention that the pricing at Bianca is quite generous.

Ok so here's the thing. I'm not nearly so large as the fabulous James Beard. I'm about 6'2" and 240lbs. I walk into that little restaurant and feel that the likelihood of finding a place where I'll fit is very slim. And that's when the restaurant is only half full. During our last meal at Bianca, my wife and I formulated the following question based on the premise that no one should ever do anything to dissuade James Beard from visiting their restaurant.

Would Mr. Beard squeeze into Biance for the sake of fried artichokes and a fluffy mountain of fried parsley?

I say probably. The wife says no way. (she likes the artichokes and parsley as much as I do)

[SobaAddict70]

Tuesday evening, had dinner at Bianca with Bux and Mrs. B.

I concur with everyone above, this is truly an East Village gem and more of a solid neighborhood place than a hot-spot-of-the-moment.

Apps:

Fried baby artichokes and parsley (me)

Special of fennel gratin (Esilda)

can't remember what Bux had. Perhaps he'll weigh in.

next time I definitely will order the chicken liver app. I'm kicking myself for not having done so.

Mains:

Fusili with sausage and red pepper (me)

Lasagna, in the style of Emilia-Romagna (Bux)

can't remember what Esilda had. must be getting on in my years.

I would've had a secondi but I was approaching my limit. (Maybe I shouldn't have eaten all that bread beforehand though...)

Dolci:

Ciabatta with mascarpone sauce (me)

Ricotta cheesecake (Bux and Esilda. split.) (Esilda felt that the cheesecake would work better without the accompanying fruit coulis.)

With espresso, wine and mineral water, a total bill of $131 (with tax and tip included).

Definitely one for the books.

Soba

[Pan]

Thanks, Soba. I definitely plan on going there. Table for 4 next time?

[Pan]

I finally went to Bianca for the first time tonight, with my friend Mascarpone. We loved the place! It's got a heimish atmosphere, the waiter was friendly and generally very good, and the food was all great! We shared the following:

Carcioffi Fritti

Chicken livers with deglazed balsamic vinegar (and some sweet wine?) on crostini

Tagliatelle alla Bolognese

Fritto Misto

Torta di Mela

Cake with mascarpone cream

I'm doing this from memory, which is why I'm not giving you Italian names for everything.

Really, everything was terrific, and we also had some delicious Pinot Grigio by the glass that went with all our savories. It's hard to say what was particularly noteworthy. The artichokes were deep fried in olive oil and came with deep-fried parsley, which I liked very much. Despite all the oil, the dish felt light. The chicken liver dish was great and reminded me of the dish my father made with Marsala, and I mean that in a good way (my father is a very good cook). These weren't crostini with minced livers like I've gotten in Tuscany and such, but full-sized livers with crostini provided to eat them with. The Tagliatelle alla Bolognese was of course excellent and tasted a little creamy, so I asked the waiter whether there was any besciamella in the sauce, and was told there wasn't. Perhaps I was experiencing whatever fat was in the sauce, from butter or whatever. I suppose the Fritto Misto was particularly noteworthy, considering how many places make fried fish and seafood that tastes like nothing. This was a combination of calamari, shrimp, and mullet, all totally fresh-tasting, with just enough batter, fried in good extra-virgin olive oil. It was really pleasant!

As for the desserts, we loved 'em both as well. The rich mascarpone cream really made the dessert I listed second, and despite all the butter in it, the Torta di Mela seemed light.

This restaurant is great, and I really should have come sooner. Long may it live!

[jogoode]

I suppose the Fritto Misto was particularly noteworthy, considering how many places make fried fish and seafood that tastes like nothing. This was a combination of calamari, shrimp, and mullet, all totally fresh-tasting, with just enough batter, fried in good extra-virgin olive oil. It was really pleasant!

←

Glad you enjoyed it, Pan. I was excited when it opened, but haven't yet gotten around to trying it. Yet if that fritto misto is as good as the version served at Celeste, Bianca's sister restaurant, then I'm with you on how good it is!

[Pan]

Mascarpone felt that the food was better than at Celeste.

[adegiulio]

The Tagliatelle alla Bolognese was of course excellent and tasted a little creamy, so I asked the waiter whether there was any besciamella in the sauce, and was told there wasn't. Perhaps I was experiencing whatever fat was in the sauce, from butter or whatever.

←

Forgive me if you already know this, but Bolognese is almost always made with milk. I would guess that is where the creaminess is coming from.

Sounds like a terrific restaurant, I will definately be making plans to check it out...

[Pan]

Forgive me if you already know this, but Bolognese is almost always made with milk.

←

Nope, didn't know that. I don't remember Adda Boni's recipe calling for milk, and that's the one I've used when I've cooked sugo alla bolognese. Thanks for the explanation.

[Cathy-Ann]

Any input on the romantic factor? 2 friends who happen to be dating and who also happen to have birthdays near each other have asked for a restaurant recommendation for a birthday celebration Saturday night. Bianca seems to meet my requirement of fabulous food (I plan to head there next chance I get), and their's for a reasonable price. Thanks in advance.

[Pan]

The lights aren't dark, but it feels very homey (heimish, in Yiddish parlance) in terms of people of good taste. Very pleasant place.

[Cathy-Ann]

Thanks, Pan, that's helpful. I'm not sure what they've chosen yet (I've given them several options), but if it's Bianca I'll let you know what they thought of it

[slkinsey]

Cathy-Ann,

One thing I'l say about Bianca that IMO goes against "romantic" is that it is almost always crowded and noisy.