SD26
Posted by bellastraniera - 08/12/09 at 03:12 pm Restaurant partnerships can be a tricky thing. As with any celebrity couple, there are joyous, hyper-publicized births (of new restaurants) and bitter divorces played out in the tabloids (or Flo Fab’s column). So it’s a good thing that Tony and Marisa May are father and daughter, because the dining public would benefit from them sticking together for a while. The new SD26 injects Marisa’s modern, even trendy style into the old restaurant San Domenico, but maintains Tony May’s hospitality and chef Odette Fada’s classic Italian cuisine.
Anyone interested in Italian wine should come here for the bar, where a huge wine selection is listed on Palm-Pilot-like devices. Sort the list by country, then by region or varietal, or sort the entire thing by price. SD26’s Italian wine consultant wrote extensive descriptions of each wine, though a few things get lost in translation to amusing effect: The bottle we chose on a recent night apparently goes well with “white meats and redheads.”
There’s also a wine vending machine up front that disperses wines by the ounce – just put down your credit card at the bar, get a vending card, and sample away. The spacious bar area, with its cocktail tables and skeins of colorful yarn draped against a gallery-white wall, would be a great place to meet for a drink (if you can take the influx of Credit Suisse bankers every weeknight), and the bartender in his red double breasted blazer could teach those young upstarts in beards and suspenders a thing or two.
The interior design gets more problematic as you progress into the dining room, where it opens up into a cavernous space and an open kitchen. Open kitchens are like a strip tease – we might like to see a little plating, a little steaminess, but lay the whole thing out, floor to ceiling, under fluorescent lighting for everybody to see, and it loses its charm. At least the dining room, decorated in post-Fellini Italian style with sleek, colorful furnishings, is buzzy, full of energy, and on that night, packed. A little too packed: We had to wait a half hour for our reserved table.
Don’t be fooled by the contemporary design, though: SD26’s food is very traditional, by-the-book Italian. An extensive selection of cured meats includes this prosciutto San Daniele ($10), which is sweeter than the more common prosciutto di Parma and has a melt-in-your-mouth texture that often doesn’t survive the trip stateside.
The fattiness in the sauce is the binding element of the pappardelle with wild boar ragu ($16), and it really works, playing off the acidity of the tomato and the vegetal notes of carrots and onion. The whole thing was finished off with a little spice from red pepper flakes and the sharpness of freshly grated Parmesan.
Chitarra SD26 ($13) isn’t anything radically different; like Maialino’s carbonara, it’s a study in a classic Italian pasta dish done exactly right. We ordered this pasta, which is thick like bucatini but cut square and made in house, when we witnessed a banker at the next table scarf it down in a matter of moments. With this velvety puree of tomato, summery basil, all infused with cheese for a bit of creaminess, you could hardly blame him.
These hefty lamb chops ($37) are sublime. Marinated in herbs and olive oil, rubbed with cumin, they get seared just to the point of medium rare and not a minute longer. The flavors hint at the often-overlooked Moroccan influence in Italian food now, with mint in the couscous playing off the smokiness of the cumin char.
There’s an inflection of holiday spices like ginger and cloves in the beef cheeks braised in spiced red wine ($27.50). If the use of ginger, cloves, cardamom and cinnamon in meat sauces is just a trend, let’s hope it lasts through the winter, because it creates a wonderfully homey but sophisticated effect.
For dessert, the bomboloni hit the spot. Underneath the crunch of flaked sugar, the soft dough gave way to a warm chocolate center. Extra virgin olive oil added an herbal note to the sweetness.
Judging by the ecstatic reaction of a diner who introduced herself to Marisa May in the ladies room, San Domenico already has a lot of fans. This new incarnation on 26th Street should introduce them to some new ones.
SD26
19 East 26th Street between Madison and Fifth Avenues
New York, NY
212-265-5959
sd26ny.com
Reservations can be booked online.
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bellastraniera
a.k.a. Marcy Swingle - obsessed with food and fashion.
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March 18th, 2010 at 6:52 pm
I recently came across your blog. I must say I have enjoyed reading and I will continue to come back often. Thanks