For Lunch, Cocktails, Pre- And After-Theater Or Dinner In New York, Masseria Dei Vini Serves Excellent Italian Food And Plenty Of Wine

There is a slew of excellent Italian restaurants in New York that are jammed every night with regulars and visitors and seem to coast along without benefit of the hyperventilated press in search of the new five-table trattoria in Brooklyn or Queens whose exposure gives it a six-week flourish of interest than fades quickly.

The Masseria Group of Caprese childhood friends and natives Peppe Iuele, Enzo and Barese Executive Chef Pino Coladonato opened their first venture, La Masseria (the farmhouse), in the Theater District in 2004 to overnight success, followed by branches in Providence and Palm Beach, as well as a brand new Parma Nuova on the East Side.

Masseria dei Vini, with an attached Café, came along in 2014, near Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, and it was intended to be a somewhat more casual spot with a focus on wine. Ironically, while the original La Masseria has a very pretty, rustic farmhouse look, Masseria dei Vini is a strikingly modern, shimmering, well-lighted dining room with linen-covered tables with charming lights, a long wine case wall and a fine bar that makes this one of the most beautiful restaurants on the West Side. Because of its proximity to entertainment venues, early arriving clientele dress well, though afterwards you may be sitting next to men in shorts, t-shirts and flip-flops, as if this were some beachside snack bar in Amalfi.

The wine list, as you’d expect, is judiciously packed with the best Italian bottlings as well as the requisite sparkling wines. However, the bartender needs to get more serious about making cocktails: Both a sidecar and a daiquiri were inexpertly rendered.

The greeting is always warm, the noise level high but not distressingly so, and the experienced waitstaff are efficient, cordial and work in synch, although around nine o’clock they may mysteriously disappear from the dining room for minutes on end.

Antipasti are often ignored by patrons, but Masseria dei Vini’s deserve your attention, not least the superb and colorful salads and the mixed fried foods for the table with calamari, shrimp, artichokes and asparagus ($28.50), all piping hot, crisp and tender. Gorgeously rosy carpaccio of beef comes with arugula and hearts of palm with small pastry puffs ($28.50).

There is also a selection of pizzas, and while I don’t know if the imported Vesuvian lava rock makes a difference, the crust is perfect, and among the twelve pies offered, I was very impressed by the mozzarella fior de latte, fontina, robiola and parmigiano with a black truffle sauce of exceptional richness ($32.50), which could serve four as an appetizer.

The menu lists a dozen fresh pastas, and all I’ve tasted have been outstanding, showing careful attention to texture, including the ravioli di Angelina filled with caciotta cheese in a creamy tomato sauce ($29.50). The potato gnocchi really did, for once, taste like potato, dressed with an Italian black truffle sauce ($32.50). There is always a risotto of the day, too.

For our main courses we let Colodonato choose, which brought us Mediterranean orata roasted with black olives, capers and cherry tomatoes ($38.50), and a classic Milanese costoletta topped with arugula and tomato salad ($56).

Key to everything is the sparkling freshness and color of the dishes; nothing seems turned out onto the plate with abandon; careful attention to heat means two pastas on one plate will be equally warm, and the filleted seafood hot.

There is, of course, the usual tiramisù ($14), as good as any, but the vanilla-flavored ricotta cheesecake ($15) was applaudably not too sweet, so the flavor of the ricotta was true. Delizia al limone ($14) was a nice surprise as was a lemon glazed custard sponge cake ($14).

If prices seem high, though no more so than at similar Italian restaurants around town, always remember that portions are easily shared, including pastas, and, obviously, a full plate of pasta can be a main course.

Though eight years old now, Masseria dei Vini has the look of something brand new, as modern in its design as in the freshness of its approach and its generosity of spirit. Yet, it lacks any pretension and, whether it’s dinner before a show at Carnegie Hall or Lincoln Center or at eight ‘o’clock or afterwards—the kitchen stays open till 11 on weekdays and midnight on weekends—the welcome will be warm, honest and relaxing, even if you have to run to catch a curtain. Then again, you might want to think about a long summer’s lunch.

MASSERIA DEI VINI

887 Ninth Avenue

212-315-2888

Open from noon through dinner.