Parma Nuova Brings True Emilia-Romagna Food To New York’s Upper East Side

Under the single name Parma, this old-style Italian restaurant had been a fixture on Manhattan’s Upper East Side since 1977, opened by Elio Guaitolini and afterwards owned by John Piscina. Now, as Parma Nuova, it has been beautifully transformed by owner Giorgio Manzio, a Sicilian who has worked in New York’s Da Silvano, Le Cirque, Bella Blu and La Masseria. Manzio has partnered with Giuseppe “Peppe” Iuele, Vincenzo “Enzo” Ruggiero and Executive Chef Giuseppe “Pino” Coladonato of La Masseria Group, which has had wide success with two restaurants and a café in New York, one in Providence, RI, and another in Miami.

When this was Parma, the menu was a mix of formulaic Italian and Italian-American dishes, but now Parma Nuova’s menu is focused on the food of Parma and its surrounding region of Emilia-Romagna. Of course, Parma is famous for its Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and Prosciutto di Parma, which are laced throughout the menu, as well as hand-made, stuffed pastas that are a specialty of the region.

As with other La Masseria Group restaurants, Parma Nuova is designed by Libby Langdon with strong black-and-white contrasts and vintage Italian posters and photos of the city of Parma. French doors open onto the street, and there’s a wall of wine. There are fine table settings with slender lamps and linens as befits the ambiance, which is centered by a huge display of flowers.

As at all the group’s restaurants, the welcome and service staff are as admirably amiable as they are well tuned. The wine list has about 80 selections, though it would be nice to have some wines from Emilia-Romagna, like a dry Lambrusco that goes well with the region’s rich food.

Among the antipasti is felino salame, a specialty of the region, rarely seen culatello and truffled pecorino served with tavolaccio di Parma con gnocco fritto, hot fried puffs of yeasty dough ($26). Colodonato perfected his fried zucchini ($15) years ago at La Masseria and now they are a signature item you won’t find better anywhere in the city. They have the added pleasure of a chickpea puree. The same delicate frying is accorded calamari and cauliflower ($24). Parma Nuova also has an outstanding, creamy, sweet eggplant Parmigiana style ($21.50) and all these appetizers may be enjoyed by two or more people.

Emilia-Romagna’s food is known for its richness, and you won’t easily find the region’s cappellacci all’Emiliana ($29.50), a large veal-stuffed type of tortellini with a mushroom ragu. Tonnarelli ($25.50) is given the cacio e pepe treatment, but it is set into a crispy shell of Parmigiano cheese that adds to the lusciousness. Of course, there is gnocchi (($32), lavished with a Parmigiano mousse and shavings of black truffles. (White ones will come in soon.)

If you are a risotto aficionado, you will applaud the unusual version done with arborio cooked in Champagne and set with pieces of roasted quail in a velvety reduction of red wine ($42).

Entrees are simpler, as they should be after these rich beginnings. So, I recommend the finely cooked fillet of branzino in seasoned “crazy water” ($42). A plump chicken is pressed on the griddle and sliced with its juices ($35), while their perfected veal alla milanese with greens ($35), called “elephant ear,” has a crispy thinness that retains the true taste of the meat within.

All desserts ($13.50) are house-made, including a ricotta cheesecake with a decided vanilla edge; torta di Mamma Paola, a flourless chocolate cake served with vanilla ice cream inspired by Ruggiero’s mother’s recipe; a tiramisù considerably lighter than many other versions; and delizia al limone, a lemon custard cream cake topped with Chantilly cream.

The Upper East Side used to have a good number of Italian restaurants much beloved by the neighborhood’s affluent, if not always discerning, clientele. Some were trailblazers for Northern Italian cuisine, like Il Monello, Coco Pazzo and the still wonderful Sandro’s. But Parma Nuova is part of a new generation of regionally focused Italian ristoranti, led not by young acolytes with ten items on their storefront trattoria menus but by seasoned Italian professionals, whose decades of cooking and service make this a bellwether anywhere in New York.

PARMA NUOVA

1404 3rd Avenue

212-535-3520

Open for dinner nightly