Spasso

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Let's start with the good: the food and wine at Spasso are not just good, both are excellent.  Everything placed on our table (with the exception of the bread) was delicious and well executed.  The food was inventive and the wine perfectly complimented our seafood centric dishes.

Onto the not so good: the service and the seating.  Our server hounded us to order our food and wine but couldn't give a bleep about if we liked any of the (1) apps, (2) entrees, (3) dessert or (4) bottle of wine we ordered. That's right, he had at least four opportunities to check on us and failed each time. And the server was pushing a new bottle of wine on us long before our wine was finished.  I noticed that the gentlemen at the table millimeters away from us had two drinks on the table, one full and one half full because he was less willing to say no to the waiter on his second date (yep, we were sitting that close).

The tables at Spasso were so close together I accidentally bumped the women sitting at the table next to us while reaching for my water.  I know we live in NYC where space is limited and I have embraced our shoe box sized homes.  Making friends out of strangers dining at tables nearby is nothing new for me.  But the tables at Spasso are just wrong.  Spasso needs to pull out one of the two tops on the back wall so that diners do not hit each other during their meal.

Ok, back to the good.  The food and wine menus had so many enticing options that despite the cramped quarters and average at best service, I will be back.  I think if you go to Spasso knowing about the lackluster service and the crowded seating, and perhaps come for dinner with friends (as opposed to a leaisurely date), the problems with this restaurant may be less jarring. 

The wine menu featured several Fruili wines in the $50-60 price range.  Comelli has long been a favorite Italian winemaker of mine and our bottle of Sauvignon Blanc was enjoyed down to the last drop.

And for the food, the other dishes I had entertained but failed to order, including the pappadelle with oxtail ragu and duck leg confit, coincidentally appeared on the table next to ours. If my dishes hadn't been so delicious, I would have had food envy.  I am confident I could easily dine here a handful of times ordering a different item each time and love every dish. 

What to eat:

The Prawn Filled Calamari with pesto cannelini beans.  The large tubes of calarmari were filled with a prawn, tomato and vegetable mixture.  As you can see from the picture, it was a very cool twist on calamari.  The flavor combination, between the seafood, vegetables and tomato, was perfect.  Also, the pesto sauce on the cannelini beans was so good I wish Spasso offered the pesto sauceon one of their homemade pastas.











For an entree, order the Orrechette with Crab and Shrimp in a White Wine Sauce.  To put it simply, this pasta was fabulous.  The ear shaped pasta noodles were lightly coated in a white wine butter sauce with had a dash of red pepper.  The pasta dish was filled with tons of rock shrimp and crab.

The portions here are not large so you will have room for dessert, which at Spasso is a must.  Order the Dark Chocolate Carmel Crostada with maldon salt and espresso whipped cream.  The crostada consists of two hard, thick layers of chocolate separated by a thick layer of gooey caramel.  The crostada is topped with maldon salt and a dollop of whipped cream.  The whipped cream has only a slight hint of espresso which is perfect for someone like me that does not enjoy coffee products and equally enjoyable for people that do enjoy coffee products.  And the salt is a nice savory contrast to the rich chocolate and sweet caramel.

Willing to spare good service and space for awesome food and wine?  Make a res at Spasso,

Your foodie friend