Don Angie, New York

When I go to New York, I try to get together with my busy friend Daisy for at least one  meal, maybe two. Our most recent visit coincided with the first day of school, but she made time for us at the end of a crazy day of classes. We had chosen Don Angie, a modern Italian restaurant in the West Village for our late evening repast.

It was a great choice.

We started off with a selection of cocktails, Mr Minx with the Scotch and Amaretto concoction called Uncle Jimmy and me with the Pignoli Colada. I can't remember what Daisy got and I'm too lazy to ask her. In any case, I felt they were all ok. A bit heavy on the ice, which made them seem watered down.

The food was much better.

This is the bbq calamari with pepperoni fried rice and herbed labne. I proclaim that all fried rice should have pepperoni in it. And chunks of tender squid. Fab.

My favorite app was the tonatto vitello. I've always been curious to try the traditional version of veal with a tuna sauce, but it can't possibly hold a candle to Don Angie's crudo version. A membrane-thin blanket of tuna carpaccio covered a lightly spicy veal tartare with crunchy bits of celery and something that I think could have been bread crumbs? In any case, it was fan-fucking-tastic. A must-try. We also had the cheese-tastic stuffed garlic flatbread, which can be seen lurking in the background.

Each of us ordered pasta. TBH, Mr Minx and I had eaten a lot already that day and weren't super hungry, but we didn't have any problem scarfing up our meals. He had the gorgeous caramelle (a stuffed pasta shaped like a cellophane-wrapped candy) with buffalo milk ricotta, served in a brothy sauce with cubes of pickled cantaloupe. It was a smaller serving, but just right for him (for once!)

I had the smoked paprika and tomato-flavored sopressini (vaguely shaped like fortune cookies) with smoked mussels in a sauce made with Peroni beer, topped with cilantro bread crumbs and lime butter. Daisy had the garganelli giganti with a broken meatball ragu, guanciale, and pecorino. Her dish was delish, but mine was indescribably good. The pasta was silky, the mussels (not actually smoked, just heated in a smoked paprika oil) were tender, and the lime and cilantro brought everything together. If the recipe wasn't so complicated, I'd try to make it at home myself.

We skipped dessert because we were so full, but happily so. Don Angie is going into my NY dining rotation for sure.

Don Angie
103 Greenwich Ave
New York, NY 10014
http://donangie.com

Posted on Minxeats.com.