ITALIAN TRATTORIAS IN
THE OUTER BOROUGHS

Gnocchi with pork and beef ragù at San Gennaro

    Now that the New York food media have started to run low on Brooklyn eateries to rave about, there has been slightly more interest in the once neglected boroughs of the Bronx and Queens, both rife with restaurants of every ethnic stripe, not least good Italian trattorias without the hour-long waiting time and the five-dollar slices of pizza at an over-hyped place like Brooklyn’s Di Fara Pizza.  Here are two places the mainline media may someday get around to noticing.

 

SAN GENNARO

2329 Arthur Avenue, Bronx, NY

718-562-0129

http://www.sangennarorestaurant.com

 

    Gennaro Martinelli (left), born in Capua, south of Naples, has long experience cooking around the world, from Paris to Bruges, from Austria to Kenya, from Thailand to Brazil, so when he took over San Gennaro in the Bronx’s Little Italy section known as Belmont, you could tell right away that he was going to cook with somewhat more refinement than at most of the established Italian-American places in the neighborhood.

    His expertise, along with that of Chef Giuseppe Cammarota (left), shows clearly in the standard dishes of the genre, from excellent, greaseless, lightly battered calamaretti fritti to linguine with vongole clams in the shell.  Pastas are always al dente, ingredients gleaned from the Arthur Avenue markets, which means half a dozen specials every day, among which you’ll find the best dishes on a long menu.

San Gennaro is going through some decorous changes—new floor, new chairs—that will soon include an inserted wine wall, which I’m told will increase a wine list in need of more and better selections. 
    The room is small but it’s appended with a delightful patio on the street that is especially sought out in spring and summer.  Tables are close to one another, and it’s highly likely you’ll chat with diners at the next one over, either recommending what you’re eating or taking the advice on what they’re enjoying.  Everything that comes out of the kitchen looks wonderful, and while Martinelli is a very congenial host, he hires an equally amiable waitstaff.

    Antipasti should not be neglected, since Martinelli may have just obtained some buffalo ricotta, semi-soft in a lattice pattern (right), drizzled with truffle honey and ringed with sun-dried tomatoes ($13).  Grilled, marinated vegetables come glossed with good olive oil ($11 or $22), and they do a splendid carpaccio of slightly smoked swordfish ($12); the same treatment was given pressata di polpo ($15) as a special last week, and it was exceptionally delicate octopus, colorful and tangy with big capers from Pantelleria.

    Just about every pasta I’ve had at San Gennaro has been very, very good, many housemade, and the fettuccine with abundant shrimp in a verdant pesto  ($18) is excellent.  Two specials often featured are the nudi (left) dumplings ($24), made with ricotta and fontina, spinach, prosciutto and white truffle paste in a lavish, cheese-rich cream sauce, and perfect potato gnocchi ($20), airy but substantial, in a pork and beef ragù cooked slowly for three hours to incorporate all the flavors and spices.

    My favorite meat dish here is the pollo scarpariello ($18), big chunks of chicken cooked in white wine-lemon sauce with hot vinegar peppers and sweet sausage (ask for it on the bone).  Fillet of sole is quickly sautéed and served with vegetables in a white wine-lemon sauce ($22), and the scaloppini of veal with a dreamy Gorgonzola sauce takes on nuance from chopped walnuts ($24).  Last time I had the osso buco it was disappointingly dry ($30).

    By the way, you might save that ricotta appetizer as a fine dessert, without the peppers, but the cheesecake made here is one of the best in the neighborhood ($9).

    Gennaro Martinelli is always at his little trattoria and you’ll get to know him quickly.  Take his recommendations.  It makes him and Giuseppe very happy if you do.

 

Open daily for lunch and dinner.

 

 

 

 

MILKFLOWER

34-12 31st Avenue, Astoria, NY

718-204-1300

http://www.milkflowernyc.com

 

    Fraternity is among the strongest of human bonds but, brothers being brothers, there is also sibling rivalry.  Both may be the case with Jersey boys Peter and Danny Aggelato, but both are so committed to their darling pizzeria-trattoria in Astoria—they are on premises seven days a week—that you will sense immediately that Milkflower  is a labor of love.

     Both men have worked for years in others’ restaurants—Danny in pizzerias, Peter as manager—but they dreamed of having their own place in this gentrifying Queens neighborhood of good ethnic restaurants of every stripe, but none quite like Milkflower, which refers to the whole milk called fior di latte used in Italy to make mozzarella.   While principally a pizzeria in the Neapolitan style, the long slip of a space with a garden patio out back makes far more use of the wood-burning oven than usual, resulting in wonderful small dishes like roasted octopus with potatoes and green olives graced with dill ($15) and roasted meatballs with tomato, garlic confit, grana padano cheese and basil ($11).  They also do a pea toast with a touch of mint and creamy-rich burrata and grated lemon ($10).   Plates of Serrano ham ($14), a string bean salad, with persimmon, feta, almonds and citrus ($11), and eggplant caponata ($12) made smoky by that oven is enriched with burrata, pinenuts and a dash of balsamico.

    There are also some delectable pasta offerings, from Roman cacio e pepe (cheese and pepper) on fat bigoli noodles ($13) and rolled cavatelli in a beef ragù with goat’s milk feta ($16).

    The Aggelatos can be proud of all those dishes, but clearly their hearts and energies are focused on their ever-improving pizzas, from a classic margherita ($12) to one called “s.t. the ghost,” named after an employee, made with Grafton cheddar, mozzarella, Parmigiano cheese and burnt honey ($15).   
     These are not the ultra-crisp flatbread variety of pizzas; they are the soft-centered Neapolitan variety, always with a risen corona around the rim, with blistered bubbles and charcoal scorchings that make them so marvelous in both lingering flavor and chewy texture.

    Sometimes there’s no reason to re-invent the wheel, if your goal is just to make a better wheel, and that’s what the charmingly named Milkflower is doing to the very best of the brothers’ abilities.

 

Open for lunch Sat. & Sun., for dinner nightly.

 

    I am in no way doctrinaire about what to drink “in season,” so while I do look forward to sampling more rosés and lighter reds with seafood and chicken, I’m just as happy with a brawny Cabernet or Zinfandel with my grilled red meats.  Here are several wines I’ve been delighted with recently.

 

Cleto Chiarli Brut de Noir Rosé ($15)—A delightful medium-bodied spumante rosato from a very modern winery outside of Modena, Italy, better known for its Lambrusco. It’s a blend of Grasparossa and Pinot Nero, at 12% alcohol, so it goes down very easily. I find it a perfect aperitif—at a great price—that can carry over into first courses like shrimp grilled or in a salad.

 

Clos de Capelune Cru Classe Côtes de Provence 2015 ($16)—Produced by Château Saint-Maur, this is a fuller bodied rose with 13% alcohol that distinguishes a Cru Classe, with wonderful aromatics and flowers in the bouquet and enough heft to go very well with anything but grilled red meats.  It is a blend of Grenache, Cinsault, Mourvèdre and Rolle.

 

Mercer Horse Heaven Hills Sharp Sisters Red Blend 2013 ($20-$26)—The blend of 47% Merlot, 41% Syrah, and 16% other grapes, with 20 months aging, gives this the fruit and the mellowness, and its moderate heft made it a wonderful accompaniment to black bean soup and suckling pig cooked on the grill.

 

Cobb Pinot Noir Rice-Spivak Vineyard  2013 ($75)—With just 12.8% alcohol, this is a lightweight Pinot Noir with plenty of  bright fruit flavors.  Winemaker Ross Cobb picks his grapes at a lower Brix level than many others do in Sonoma, and he tones down the use of oak. The grapes come from cool climate vineyards around Sebastopol with lots of volcanic ash and it reminds me of lighter style red Burgundies that go so well with wild salmon in summer. The price is up there, though.

 

Beronia Rioja Crianza 2012 ($13-$14)—A superb example of the Crianza style of Rioja, which ranks just above basic Rioja, spending one year in oak and one in bottle, emerging with a very reasonable 13.5% alcohol from 88% Tempranillo, 10% Guarnacha, and 2% Mazuelo (the Spanish name for Carignan), which provides a nice acidity. Most Crianzas are in this price range, making them excellent with just about anything on the summer table.

 

Il Tascante Nerello Mascalese IGT 2011  ($50)—At this price this might be a tough sell for a Sicilian wine, but it shows the direction the best wineries are taking to modify the too-often too-huge body of others in its category.  It is a lighter, more supple version of Nerello Mascalese,  grown on the northern slopes in Mt. Etna’s volcanic soil, with 13.5% alcohol.  It puts me in mind of some Tuscan IGT reds (the grape may be an offshoot of Sangiovese), and would be a fine accompaniment to grilled chicken or lamb.

 

Spottiswoode Sauvignon Blanc 2014 ($32-$34)—I’m no fan of flowery, sweet Sauvignon Blancs, but Spottiswoode avoids tipping into that popular style. It’s a bit drier and lacks that overly grassy component you often find in Napa Valley Sauvignon Blancs, achieving a better balance of fruit and acid that makes it a good choice for any kind of summer’s seafood, especially blue fish.

 

Miguel Torres Las Mulas Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 ($10-$14)—A terrific price for an impeccably made Cab from Central Valley, Chile. The grapes are from organic vineyards (begun in 1979 by the Torres family), the alcohol is a fine 13.5%, and yet, despite being 100% Cab, there are layers of flavor and the texture is just right, with the tannins already toned down.  Very good wine with any red meats.

 

Château Tourril Cuvée Helios Minervois 2015 ($10)—What a little enchanter! This Provençal 100% Roussane is made by two friends who have aimed at and achieved a wine at 13% alcohol with a substantial taste profile that profits from the sunny South of France, emphasizing aromatics, along with fruit and subdued sweetness.  With sushi and sashimi it works very well, as with just about all seafood, not least scallops and lobster.  You can’t beat the price.

 

Usquebach Old Rare Superior Blend ($115)—This would make a capital Father’s Day gift for its flagon bottle, but at $115 there’d better be a fine Scotch inside.  And there is, blended by the Laing family from 41 whiskies with a good dose of malt in the making. It has just enough  bite balanced with smoothness, and the sherry-like finish is a bonus.  There is also a Reserve Premium Blend at $40 and 15-year-old Pure Blended Malt at $80. 

Canadian Club 100%  Rye ($19.99)--The resurgence of interest in rye, once a staple of every bar and home spirits cabinet, has resulted in the usual overpriced novelties in the market, most drawn from the same stocks as the next bottle over.  So you figure that Canadian Club, which has been around since 1858, knows a bit more about the nuances of 100% rye (by law a bottle labeled rye need only be 51% rye), this good-looking bottling at 80 proof, made from Calgary grain, without barley or corn. And while it makes a classic mixer for cocktails, this new offering has a lot of spice, richness, and true rye flavor with just enough burn to sip on the rock or with a dash of water.