San Sabino Is a Hit in the Making | Eater NY
"At the opposite end of Don Angie’s Greenwich Avenue block the chefs and partner Michael Stillman’s Quality Branded opened San Sabino, named after the patron saint of Sanza who legend says drank poison and did not die. I went with a friend and, despite long lines and a reservation service claiming no availability, we easily got in to a double storefront transformed from Benny’s Burritos into a sunny dining room and bar with bright yellow walls and ’60s-style astral light fixtures. The apps leaned retro: a crab-and-mortadella dip ($18) served in a crab-shell ceramic bowl tasted delectably crabby though the mortadella added little (ask for extra Ritz crackers), and an iceberg-based insalata Louie with shrimp and avocado in remoulade was awkward to eat without a knife. The best starter was a trio of warm fried-dough frittelle ($14) like gnocco fritto, drizzled with honey and shaved Romano. For pasta, the triangoli ($38)—napkin-shaped sheets filled with a modest amount of lobster in a creamy white vodka sauce and sprinkled with black garlic—were really wonderful, and there’s a daring pepperoni carbonara ($28) made with ziti and Sichuan peppercorns I want to try again. A misstep was the sheep’s ricotta gnudi dunked in a tart, chunky peanut agrodolce with tiny clementine segments and astringent Vietnamese mint that didn’t work. The most dramatic dish was the shrimp Parm ($38): nearly quarter-pound shrimp, head left on, rearing out of a lake of cheese with thickly breaded bodies and a piquant, unforgettable marinara that I thought was one of the city’s great marinaras, though I worried it wasted really great shrimp. Desserts felt secondary but the crespelle with rum-lime crema were caramelized and utterly delicious. The by-the-glass list runs to 15 selections averaging $18; we liked two Etna wines—a dry, flinty Carricante and a light, tart Nerello Mascalese that even went with dessert. Overall, I think San Sabino will be a hit for its quirky, scrupulously plated menu, though our meal felt like a roller coaster—challenging yet familiar—and cost $230 pre-tip." - Robert Sietsema
