Flaming grappa, food that doubles as sports equipment
Written: Sep 26 '00 (Updated Sep 26 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: delicious Northern Italian cuisine, flaming grappa
Cons: ladies, don't use too much hairspray (flaming grappa can be dangerous)
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| kboo's Full Review: Acappella |
I walk by Acappella every day on my way to and from work. In the evenings, the smell of roasting garlic floating through the air makes me salivate like Pavlov's dog. Sadly, I was never able to sneak a peek through the large, plate glass windows, covered as they were with translucent white shirred curtains. Dark-windowed limousines lined the street.
Recently, I had an opportunity to peer into the mystery around Acappella, perennially one of New York's top-rated Italian restaurants, when we gathered there for a birthday celebration. Granted, we were the youngest and most casually dressed in the cavernous, dim room, but we also had the most fun.
Food:
The sports equipment in question was a gigantic piece of Parmesan cheese that was served to us as we were contemplating the menus. It looked for all the world like an upside-down Notre Dame football helmet, with the waiter carving slices of the "lining" and serving them on our appetizer plates. The imagery was complete with our bulky, broad-shouldered waiter cradling the helmet, uh, I mean cheese, in the crook of his arm as he wandered the room, looking for diners who were ready to receive more cheese. In addition to the cheese, which was evenly textured and not too salty, we were treated to delicious slices of salami and roast eggplant topped with loads of fresh and roasted garlic. The eggplant was smoky and tender; the garlic was both zingy and mellow, and I could have feasted on these little bits all night.
My appetizer, a shallow plate of lobster ravioli in a creamy grappa based sauce, was delectable. Again, I could have just eaten these perfectly al dente little pillows all night. The sauce, which was similar to a pink vodka sauce, but with chunks of lobster and a heady lobster aroma, was rich and sinful. I was compelled to grab more bread to soak up the sauce, every last dribble. Hubby and I almost came to blows over the last of the sauce.
Other appetizers were similarly spectacular. I'm not a fan of cooked oysters as a general rule, but the baked oysters topped with fontina cheese and spinach were hearty and juicy. Needless to say, there was lots of chopped garlic mixed in this one as well. Only a touch of cheese was used, so that the spinach was not overwhelmed, and the tender oysters provided a gentle counterpoint to the chewy melted cheese and the more substantial spinach. Perhaps we were just in a sophomoric mood that night, but the funniest looking food (even beyond the Notre Dame football helmet) was that buffalo mozzarella and beefsteak tomato appetizer. First, I have to say that it was delicious: smooth and soft fresh cheese slices layered with juicy, bright red tomato slices, all topped with a tiny bud of basil. The problem was, well, we all thought they looked like breasts…
The main courses were also excellent; filling and rich, and not nearly as funny-looking as the appetizers. Dover sole with lemon butter was presented in a traditional manner. First the waiter brought the entire fish on a silver platter for my approval (like what was I going to say, sorry, the eyes aren't bugging out enough, take it back?), then it was brought back to the kitchen and expertly filleted. For a summer dinner, it was ideally light and fresh, not too oily, with a very subtle coating of barely browned flour. A meatier sea bass was roasted and then topped with a savory and colorful sauce of green olives, tomatoes and big fat capers, which tasted a bit like a puttanesca sauce. The chunk of sea bass was so large and meaty that it could have been a tender and juicy chicken breast, if not for the clear fish flavor. Veal scallopini with prosciutto and spinach was by far the richest and heaviest main course we tried, dressed lightly with a barely thickened meaty sauce with a touch of tomato broth. Thin slices of veal were topped with fragrant prosciutto and chopped, sauteed garlicky spinach for a dish that was delicious but probably more suited to a fall or winter dinner.
As we decided whether to have dessert, the waiters brought the last funny-looking food to the table: figs preserved in grappa. We each were given a small glass of the liqueur with a brown, shriveled fig in the glass. Epinions won't let me say what the figs looked like, but pretend you're 12 and let your imagination do the rest. Like all the other food we had, funny-looking or not, it was sublime. The grappa was sweet, faintly fig-scented and not at all acrid, it went down very smoothly and before I knew it I'd managed to sip my entire glass. I ate about half of my preserved marinated fig before I started to feel a little too marinated myself- it was tender and sweet, and a great palate cleanser.
After sipping our grappa and chatting a bit, we had to pass on dessert even though the dessert menu looked great. We had birthday cake waiting, and we were already stuffed to the gills and slightly tipsy from the grappa. I see I will have to do further research on this section...
Service:
Service was traditional and a little on the formal side, but not at all stiff. All of the wait staff are men, dressed in crisp tuxedos and an occasional white linen apron. Each course came with smooth and swift precision, with three or four waiters at a time descending on our table of 6. The pasta dishes were finished in the dining room, where a waiter had several gas burners working- every few minutes, whoosh! with a burst of blue flame, another plate of lobster ravioli in grappa sauce was born.
We got more flaming grappa after our main courses. Rather than warm the grappa glasses in the dishwasher (how boring!), our Grappa Guy took each glass, swirled a small amount of grappa in it, placed it on our table, and poof! lit it on fire. Eventually the flames died down and we were left with warmed glasses, ready for the preserved figs and grappa.
Pyrotechnics aside, the service was competent and seamless. We never had to ask for anything, and our water glasses were always full. Our waiters knew the menu very well and were able to answer all of our questions about the food. The sommelier was similarly helpful with the extensive wine list (which included affordable as well as eye-popping wines). Alas, I cannot remember much of the wine since the flaming grappa destroyed so many of my brain cells... I do remember it was good and it was under $30 a bottle.
Most importantly, service achieved that fine balance where the same waiters could be very formal with diners who wanted it, and still be friendly and joke with diners who were being a bit more lighthearted.
Decor:
There is one irregularly-shaped room with fifteen foot (or higher) ceilings, and a very small bar area that is open to the main dining room. The interior walls are exposed brick that are hung with castle-sized tapestries depicting traditional Renaissance style scenes. Lighting is very dim, coming mostly from candles on the tables, which makes for a romantic atmosphere. However, since it's one very large, strangely shaped space, the acoustics are a little unpredictable and the restaurant can get noisy if there is even one large raucous group.
Special Notes, Tips or Menu Recommendations:
All major credit cards accepted.
Make reservations at least two weeks in advance.
There is no strict dress code. Some men wear jackets although this is not required.
Restaurant is street level, so handicap access is not a problem.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
kboo
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 - Top 1000 |
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Location: New York, NY
Reviews written: 130
Trusted by: 283 members
About Me:
De-fezzed in two topics. Ask me if I care. Hey, what happened to my picture?
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