Fiamma Osteria

[Robert Schonfeld]

Glutton that I am for restaurant episodes rife with the potential for disappontment, I nevertheless took my optimism, my craving for Italian food, and my wife to lunch yesterday at the city's newest three star establishment. I can say off the top that Fiamma seems to be, after one visit, one of very few Italian restaurants where one can go for a casual meal of high quality without any of the attendant nonsense of a scene, and without suffering the whims and judgement of staff to whom, outside their establishment, you would give no attention at all. (Does Babbo come to anyone's mind?)

I don't like the star system; I don't understand it very well (whether that's my fault or its creators). Still, enthusiasm at such a level for an Italian place was irresistible, and off we went.

The greeting was warm and earnest. At 1:00 PM, the attractive Italian-style dining room was about two-thirds full. We were shown to a table for four with a fine view of the entire room.

We ordered wine first, so as to be sure we had some when our first course arrived. After generous tastings of a couple of things, we asked for a glass of Vermentino Argiolas "Costamolino" '01, from Sardinia. Dry, with enough fruit and flower in the finish. Easy, pleasnt and tasty drinking. A verdicchio was just too bland, as they usually are. I'm always looking for a good one.

Bread, from Sullivan Street - whole wheat and sourdough white were the somewhat loose descriptions - was good, as were parmigiano crisps, made in the kitchen. A timbale of some kind of eggplant something was also good I guess, but I'm not a fan of eggplant anything that has a soft texture. Some good butter or oil would have been nice.

Firsts were the recommended scallop dish and the octopus. The scallops were very good quality, well-seared, and nicely dressed, served with micro greens. The octopus was much more interesting, including fried chunks of baby artichoke, tiny mushrooms identified by the server as chanterelles, and a mint in oil dressing. Many interesting flavors and textures successfully combined. Both dishes were properly dressed. I hate it when the dressing makes it impossible to concentrate on what's in the salad, or worse, makes it inedible.

Pastas as main courses were the raviolini with veal shank and stracci (rags) with rabbit. The latter, not appearing on the lunch menu, was willingly prepared for us by the chef. Both were good, as good as one can expect pasta to be in a restaurant, which is to say, from time to time, including this time, very good indeed. If I'm being picky, the raviolini seemed just a little tired, but the sauce had a noticeable roasted garlic undertone that was pleasant and stood up nicely to the rich pasta. Also just a little picky, the stracci were somewhat past al dente.  Still, a most enjoyable dish. We had no trouble wiping our plates clean and washing it all down with a Barbera D'Alba Batasiolo "Souvrana" '98, which we chose over a Dolcetto that was too hard and shallow. (I make up my own wine vocabulary as I go along, because I don't know much about wine except what tastes good.) For some reason, the pastas took a few minutes longer than we might have expected to come out of the kitchen, and I'm just guessing that the raviolini may have sat for those few minutes while the stracci were being prepared.

Desserts, by Elizabeth Gatz, late of Daniel, were more New York than Italy, but quite accomplished. Little chocolate puff balls that looked to me like small profiteroles, but which were called, I think, crochette, were served with four dipping sauces, proggressing from tart raspberry, to lemon curd, to a light something, maybe coffee, I don't remember, to deep chocolate. This was delicious and fun to eat. I didn't taste my wife's chocolate creation, but it sure looked good on the plate.

The service was casual, friendly and capable, in keeping with the character and tone of the place. I heard plenty of Italian being spoken. And, in an only-an-Italian would-do-that moment, a waiter, passing our table, winked at my wife.

The chef was at the door to say goodbye.

The menu at Fiamma is well edited. At lunch, a few appetizers, a few pastas, a chicken and a fish. At dinner, an expanded version, but still nothing overdone in terms of choices. Check it out for yourselves. The lunch I described, with four glasses of wine, was about $135. We had a good time; we'll be going back, and i don't remember the last time I said that about an Italian restaurant in New York.

[Jinmyo]

Excellent review, Robert. Thank you. I enjoyed it.

[rozrapp]

Robert Schonfeld Posted: May 31 2002,10:11

Some good butter or oil would have been nice.

Robert, Did you consider asking for some of either?  When it comes to bread, I do not like oil for dipping or most "made-up" spreads.  I want good, old-fashioned butter -- preferably unsalted -- so, if none is provided along with the bread, I always ask for some.

Although I read Grimes' review and put it in my restaurant file for future consideration, I prefer the opinions of eGulleteers.  Thanks for your review.

[Robert Schonfeld]

Did you consider asking for some of either? (oil or butter)

Fair question. No. It would have been nice, but I'm happy tasting the bread all by itself, and even better, as a sop for the various sauces.

[rozrapp]

...I'm happy tasting the bread all by itself, and even better, as a sop for the various sauces.

I can certainly understand that.  When it comes to consuming sauces, I really like the special sauce spoons that some upscale restaurants provide.  The first time I remember having them was several years ago in the restaurant at the Auberge Hatley, in southern Quebec.  (We go there for a week in August each year, and have been doing so since the early 90's.)  It was a while before the same wonderful implement began showing up in NYC restaurants.  I really love being able to scoop up every last vestige of a delicious sauce.  

[Robert Schonfeld]

These spoons were on the table, but I like to use the bread better. The Italians call it using a "scarpetta", "little shoe".

[Aaron T]

I had dinner at Fiamma last night and it was excellent. I think it is one of the best new restaurants that I have been to in a while. I was not sure what to expect considering that this is a Steve Hanson restaurant, but I was more than pleasantly suprised by my delicious meal.

My only minor complaint was the olive puree that they served instead of butter that several posters commented on above.

We sat upstairs and I thought the room looked great. The lighting was nicely done and the chairs were interesting, having armrests on only one side. The ceiling was also very high, which made the room (which is somewhat narrow) seem larger. The mirrors on the wall at head height (while seated) also open up the restaurant.

The service was good, professional without being stuffy or overly informal. The restaurant had a smart-casual vibe to it. The menu is divided into 3 sections - apps, pastas, and meats & fishes. There are several choices in each section, but not so many, which I hope reflects a sound editing process.

We started by sharing a pasta - ricotta cheese tortelli with asparagus tips, basil oil, tomatos and pecorino cheese shaved tableside. Shaving the cheese tableside could have come across as too precious, but here I thought it worked. This was the best dish we had - simply wonderful - apparently they make all of their pastas in house.

For mains, I had the seared big eye tuna which had some herbs on it and was alongside a pile of chopped cooked zucchini and eggplant and some grapes that were yellow and seemed halfway between raisins and grapes. The tuna tasted fresh and had a light sauce. I am not a huge eggplant fan so I can't vouch for those, but the yellow raisin things were also good. The other entree was a special, a grilled red snapper which came with some veggies and some home made potato chips (although the waiter had described them as roasted fingerling potatos, which they weren't). Both fish dishes were quite tasty.

For dessert we were pretty full but couldn't decide on 1 to split so we got 2. I picked out the hazelnut chocolate torte that another eGulletteer enjoyed and our other dessert was roasted figs and almond cake. I thought the hazelnut chocolate torte was very rich, but I ate every bite. Each dessert had 2 components. They were both plated very nicely. There was a ribbon of dark chocolate seperating the hazelnut torte from the gelato. The figs were in one pile and the almond cake was next to it. The almond cake complemented the figs nicely.

Finally came some petit fours and with the check the waiter brought 2 small boxes of chocolate, a gift from the pastry chef, Elizabeth Katz. The waiter made sure to mention her name a couple of times, which I thought was nice as sometimes the pastry chefs do not get their due.

I would definately go back. It was all around good service, good food, great atmosphere. I would request to sit on the 2nd floor as I thought it looked better than the 1st floor, which looked fine too. I think this is my 2nd favorite Italian in the city, after Lupa. Next time I plan to make my own pasta tasting as there are several more I would like to try.

[Fat Guy]

I had been meaning to try Fiamma for awhile -- all the reports were quite positive -- but never got up the energy to do it because my assumption, like Aaron's, was that Stephen Hanson and B.R. Guest Restaurants weren't really capable of pulling off a fine-dining endeavor. But the reports kept coming in, and a few weeks ago our own Matt Seeber called me to say he was going to take a job there as Chef de Cuisine, working with Executive Chef Michael White. I asked him, "So is the food any good," and he said, "Fuck yes!"

So, I finally made it there the night before last for a quick bite. I was impressed: Hanson has gone upscale without missing a beat -- he is an even more dynamic and versatile restaurateur than I would have thought. I think it's time to get him on eGullet for a Q&A because he doesn't get the same sort of play as some of the big names but in reality, when you look at the size and scope of his empire, his name is bigger.

The two standout dishes were: 1) grilled octopus ("POLIPO -- Grilled Octopus, Ceci Beans, Olivada, Peperoncino, Mint"), which was based on excellent, tender product and had just the right amount of char on it -- it reminded me of how good the octopus was at Elias Corner before Elias Corner started to suck, though of course the presentation was more elaborate than what you'd find at a taverna; and 2) a terrific fresh pasta with lobster, shrimp, zucchini, and tarragon -- reminiscent of the seafood pasta at Roberto's. I make these parallels to indicate that, for me, these dishes captured the rusticity of some of the better Mediterranean restaurants I've visited despite their hauteness in execution -- not an easy thing to pull off, or at least not something not often accomplished.

Also very good was pan-roasted cod with shrimp, broccolini, and saffron. Though the piece of cod was gorgeous, I'd like to see the restaurant get some better shrimp (these were no better than the standard-issue frozen specimens most restaurants serve, which worked fine in the pasta dish but fell flat here where the surrounding flavors were more subtle). At the next table, I spotted a tuna entree that looked amazing -- it was one of those dishes you can tell is going to be good just by sight. That's what I'm getting next time. And a gigantic portion compared to the cod.

The pancetta-wrapped lamb loin was just good. The dish was undercooked (fully rare rather than the requested medium rare), which was desirable to me but not to my friend who had ordered it, and given how it is sliced for presentation it's not something they can just throw back in the oven. I told my friend to send it back but he wouldn't listen -- so we take half the blame. Also I thought the lamb itself wasn't as tender as it should have been. The dish itself was smart, but the centerpiece was lacking. If this unscientific sampling indicates anything, it is that the fish dishes are the way to go -- that opinion is subject to a lot of revision after I make my way through more of the menu.

I wasn't as impressed by the desserts as Schonfeld and Aaron. We had the torta and the tortino, both of which were nice but ultimately constructed around unappealing cores (a pedestrian chocolate praline cake and a pasty caramel zabaglione).

[Fat Guy]

Fiamma has been pushing a press release this month regarding its forthcoming outpost in the MGM Grand in Las Vegas:

http://www.mgmgrand.com/lv/pages/press_pre...asp?PressID=198

The release contains a rendering of the space.

I've had two more meals at Fiamma, and am going to have one more before giving a full report (still a couple of menu items I haven't tried).

[Jason Perlow]

Fiamma was profiled recently on a Zagat-themed TV special called "America Eats, The New York Edition". Despite the little Zagat-isms introduced between segments ripped straight from the guides Fiamma actually looked really good.

Edited August 14, 2003 by Jason Perlow (log)

[redwinegulper]

Although I found the found the food to be good, I give it a thumbs down. It is probably 9 months since my visit, so I will try to remember why I was so turned off. I will say there is plenty of buzz, but Hanson is a master at this. But I found the food overpriced and many of the items on the wine list were a 4x markup....to me that says ripoff. When I think of an Italian restaurant I envision things being down to earth, using fresh ingredients in a simple but effective way, a certain warmth.....here I got the feeling of glitz, pretty women in size 2 outfits saying this is "the best". Some people love this place...but it rubbed me the wrong way.

[Rachel Perlow]

Although I can understand and even agree with some of the complaints of the poster above, I was very impressed with our dinner at Fiamma last night. I enjoyed the Asparagus Zuppa and the bite I had of Jason's scallop appetizer. We also each had a pasta as main course. I had the delectablly creamy Garganelli with Prociutto, Peas and Truffle Butter. Jason enjoyed the event's special, a perfect fettucini with a ragu made of several different meats.

I had the assortment of sorbets for dessert and loved the presentation. Each quennelle of sorbet was placed atop a butter cookie and the flavor was identified by a sliver of the applicable dried fruit. I've had assortments of this type before and truly appreciated this presentation which eliminated guessing the flavors.

[LESider]

I went recently with four people and we had a pretty tasty dinner. I'm not sure that I would go back though. Not that anything was great, its just a lot of money and for the same price you could go elsewhere and have a better experience. We shared two orders of the pasta with lobster and shrimp. It was made with a red sauce and the texture of the pasta was excellent and the sauce was great. My favorite dish hands down. I can't remember what I had for the entree. One of the other folks I was with had the Veal Chop and I wished I'd order this. We sat upstairs and its an attractive room. it does seem to attract a certain sort of customer. the waiter we had was nice enough but forgot all the specials. We all ordered espresso's and they were horrible. not even drinkable. kind of a bummer that a restaraunt of this caliber can't teach their waitstaff how to make a decent espresso.

Overall, we had a good time. One thing that I took away from the experience is that there are a lot of 2-3 star restaraunts in town making delicous food and the service is the one place that often sets these places apart.

[bripastryguy]

As a former BR Guest Employee, I have to come to Steve Hansons defense. His philosophy has been one of feeding people food what they want to eat. I havent been able to make it to Fiamma. But I would like to say that they try their best to please everybody and in most cases they do.

The bread is not made by Sullivan Street as said above, but made handcrafted in the artisan style by their baking facility in Long Island City. They have a very talented head baker named Ali Pandey. I ahd the pleasure of working with him (I was the assistant corporate pastry chef for BR Guest for 2 years) The bread is top notch.

BR guest is trying to become a self sufficient entity and they have just recently began publicizing their Chefs. Elizabeth was the 2nd pastry chef to get any notice from the company, first was Joe Murphy...both very talented chefs.

Has anyone tried Dos Caminos?

[juuceman]

so we had dinner here last night.. i don't think i got it.. there was nothing wrong with any aspect of the meal, but nothing that, in my mind, elevated it to a three star dining experience..

the food was fine.. the service was good.. the place was br guest style generic chic.. i really could have been anywhere once inside..

we sat upstairs in the back corner looking out on the entire room.. while we were literally next to a doorway, we were pretty happy with the location, as we were seperated from the banquet that ran the length of the room and seated everyone, literally, right next to each other..

the waiter was great, knew the entire menu, the specials, the wine, etc.. in fact the service staff was great throughout the meal..

the bread comes with the previously discussed white bean spread.. it was like a thinner version of hummus.. it would have been improved immensely by not pureeing the beans, a la, po and babbo.. the parmegiano crisps were cold and nothing great..

we had the grilled octopus and the scallops for appetizers.. for mains we had the pasta with lobster and the garganelli.. they were fine.. nothing really outstanding though..

for dessert we had the blueberry tort and the semifreddo.. the semifreddo was great.. the blueberry was forgettable, really lacking any true flavor..

the highlight of the meal was the chocolate that they sent us home with..

mind you, i didn't dislike any part of the meal.. the wow factor just wasn't there.. i don't think we set an overly high expectation for the place.. nor did we go in looking to dislike it.. it just seemed too polished and generic for me without any character of its own..

[Zip]

This has

been recommended to us but they have not been in a while. We are coming in for the weekend and wonder... if not, what are some recent stellar experiences. Does not have to be one of the BIG names,

(although could be). We only get to NYC 2-3 time a year and hate to waste a meal.

Thanks for your help.

Moderator's Note: This post has been merged into this thread.

[elicious]

Went to Fiamma Osteria tonight and had a lovely meal. We had the mixed salad - fabulous but subtle dressing that wasn't poured on too thick complemented the asparagus, tomatoes and other delicious vegetables. Also, an octopus appetizer was also great. I had the pasta special, consisting of fettucine-like pasta in a fish/marinara broth with mussels. Others at the table had a cream-based penne, swordfish and pork tenderloin. All were great. For dessert we had sorbets, a chocolate and banana "parfait" and an interesting combination of bittersweet chocolate tort and orange granita.

While the food was great, I was most impressed with the service. One of my pet peeves, and something that should not happen in any vaguely upscale restaurant, is when patron's plates are cleared before everyone at the table has finished eating. That was not a problem here and every dish was brought out and cleared simultaneously. The entire waitstaff was gracious and helpful and made the experience that much better.