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by Manos Angelakis
A Voce
41 Madison Ave. at 26th Street
New York, NY 10010
(212) 545-8555
When British restaurant impresario Marlon Abela decided to open A Voce, a new Italian restaurant in Manhattan, he approached Andrew Carmellini, a chef with impressive credentials, to take up the helm at the kitchen.
Andrew Carmellini is considered by most as being a member of New York’s culinary aristocracy. While still a student at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA), the young chef spent his weekends as private chef to then-Governor Mario Cuomo. He was chef de partie at the four-star Lespinasse. He was also executive sous-chef at Le Cirque 2000, when Ruth Reichl awarded that temple of gastronomy a perfect score. And, he spent almost six years as the alter-ego of America’s leading French chef, Daniel Boulud, at Café Boulud, where he forged a culinary identity all his own. Mr. Boulud gave his chef an unusual amount of freedom to create the menus and run both the restaurant and the kitchen. This decision resulted in a Michelin star, and a James Beard Foundation award as Rising Star Chef. Eventually, Café Boulud’s many fans came to consider that establishment as Mr. Carmellini's restaurant.
Deep at heart, Mr. Carmellini relishes his role as an artisan and, even though he now presides over a kitchen that is modern Italian, his classic French training shines through. There are appetizers and pasta sections and the “Del Mercato” section is full of changing seasonal daily specials. The menu is replete with a mix of fashionably rustic dishes (tripe, lamb shanks), chicken cacciatore, and even the chef’s grandmother’s recipe for ravioli. But, there are also dishes that invoke their Café Boulud heritage, such as duck meatballs with dry-cherry mustard over celery root puree or the housemade pappardelle - wide ruffled ribbons of pasta in a rich lamb Bolognese spiced up with mint and given a jolt of cool creaminess from a generous dollop of fresh ricotta.
The food is sublime and, even though high priced, it is fairly priced.
Unfortunately, the wines are highly overpriced. Categorized by country and region the 650 selection wine list offers a price range selection, from $21/btl to $9500/btl. The list features top Italian wines alongside a number of also top offerings from France and America. It offers 18 wines by the glass, 64 half bottles and 30 magnums. A restaurant is normally expected to charge a maximum of three times a bottle’s suggested retail price. I saw a fine red Italian wine, that every other city restaurant at the same level charges $400 to $600, here it was $1250; and a white American whose suggested retail is $150 and in most stores is discounted to $125, here was $770! This list seems to be rife with attempts to take advantage of people’s ignorance of fine wine pricing.
The other problem I had was with the coffee. I will simply say that the espresso was unacceptable, there was no crema, and it was served in a glass cup guaranteeing it would cool before it arrived at the table.
So go for the outstanding food; avoid the overpriced wine bottles; and definitively do not order coffee. You will still have a great time.
© July 2006 LuxuryWeb Magazine. All rights reserved.
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