April 27, 2009 2:20 pm

The Old World Charms of Mulberry Street

After an afternoon spent trotting up and down the avenues of Manhattan, I was craving carbs like a mad woman. Enter Little Italy.

This is dining destination three on my tour around New York with my roommate Courtney. She had never before walked down Mulberry Street with a belly full of pasta; an unacceptable fact in my opinion. With the warm weather beckoning us to dine al fresco, we headed downtown to bask in the old world charm of the few streets still composing New York's Little Italy.

Jovial hosts flooded the street, making large, flamboyant gestures with their hands in a typical Italian New York fashion

"Buona sera, bella! How about a nice glass of wine? We have outdoor seating. Come view our bellissimo dinner menu," they shouted as we walked past open storefront after open storefront.

We had reservations at Da Nico, a Little Italy dining staple made famous by former Mayor Rudi Giuliani's long held public affection for the Northern and Southern Italian cuisine. Seated outside in the courtyard, both the pleasant breeze and the umbrella-top trees covered in sparkling white lights made for a very inviting atmosphere.

We each ordered a glass of the house white wine and perused the extensive menu. Part of the beauty of dining with someone who has never before eaten the offered cuisine is that you can convince them to split an appetizer of your choice without too much effort or pleading. With that, we ordered the panino di bosco, grilled vegetables sandwiched between Portobello mushrooms roasted with goat cheese. I was salivating already.

Almost immediately, our veggie appetizer arrived. I cut the massive Portobello sandwich in half, cheers with Courtney, and dug my fork in. The mushroom was perfect in texture, with just enough chew to be cooked through and juicy, but not over done. The goat cheese was still warm, melting between the grilled zucchini and red peppers.

"Wow, do I love goat cheese," I said shoveling in another fork full.

"Lexi, of course you do. You like all cheeses!" Courtney replied laughing.

"This is true. I am still yet to meet a piece of pungent cheese that I do not like," I said licking my fork clean just as our entrees were brought to the table.

We each ordered an enormous bowl of pasta. Courtney had one of my favorite Italian dishes, Spaghetti Alla Carbonara, while I indulged in the Ziti Quatro Formaggi. Before I had even tasted my own, I was twirling my fork in Courtney's spaghetti and boy oh boy was it good. The prosciutto and pancetta brought a salty component to the savory egg yolks and pecorino cheese. Just as I was wishing I had ordered that too, I took a bite of my own dinner only to realize that I had made the right choice.

The ziti was perfectly al dente among a never ending sea of cheeses. Fontina, gorgonzola, ricotta and parmesan cheese all melted together in one large bowl of pasta. This is my idea of a heavenly carb overload. Normally I would eat half and bring the rest home for lunch the next day, but my four cheese dinner was just too good and before I knew it, there were only two or three fork fulls left in the bowl. At that point there was only one thing to do, finish them off and walk an extra mile the next day.

We took a stroll down the streets of Little Italy to ensure that Courtney got a good feel for the place. Just when I thought I had reached the point of actually being too full to eat another bite, we passed a sign reading "Italian Ices." You can pretty much guess where that led us - dessert. My cherry ice turned my lips red, while Courtney's became a deep shade of pink from her raspberry selection.

The sounds of Jerry Vale began to blare out of one of the open restaurant doors (leaving me no choice but to sing right along with him in between licks of my ice), which acted as the perfect ending to our Little Italy excursion. Just as we headed down to the subway, I informed Courtney that our next culinary outing would be to Little Korea for Korean BBQ. She looked a tad nervous, but after learning to crack crab, I know that she can handle any menu I throw at her.

Alexis Popov

Da Nico
164 Mulberry St,
New York, NY 10013
212-343-1212

— Written by Alexis Popov

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