Cuisine:

• Italian
• Others

Luca d'Italia Description:
Owner-chef Frank Bonanno (Mizuna, Osteria Marco and Bones) and his right-hand culinary cohort, Mike Peshek, have a hit on their hands with Luca d'Italia, an Italian-inspired restaurant that forgoes red sauce in favor of sophisticated flavor combinations. The small dining room, outfitted with aluminum chairs, caramel-hued walls, bold artwork and a small, hammered-aluminum bar, is contemporary and cool. The seasonally-inspired menu changes monthly to reflect the chef's moods and whims, but you can always count on house-made pastas and cheeses, house-cured meats, and fresh-from-the-sea fish and seafood. Start with a salumi plate teeming with soppressata, capocollo, and Parma prosciutto, followed by Sicilian calamari awash in an aromatic, herb-studded tomato sauce pelted with capers and crushed chilies. Pastas include the crab ravioli and the wild mushroom fusilli bathing in a white truffle sauce. Main dishes, such as the grilled rack of lamb with a goat cheese-pea purée and slow-roasted Alaskan halibut bolstered by a fava bean and corn risotto and black truffle emulsion, are first-rate. The wine list pulls from small producers, and while bargains are few and far between, the roster is extremely food-friendly.