Il Cantinori

Revisiting NYC Restaurant and Celebrity Hangout Il Cantinori | Eater NY

"I visited Il Cantinori recently and found a dining room largely unchanged since it opened in 1983 — brick walls, mirrors, sprays of flowers, terracotta floor tiles, white stucco, discreet dining nooks, and a big outdoor table under an overhang that still hosts extended-family gatherings. Run by the same owners (Steve Tzolis, Nicola Kotsoni, and Frank Minieri), it played a role in New York’s shift to Tuscan cooking and was a celebrity hangout in the 1980s (Jennifer Aniston, Richard Gere, Robert Mapplethorpe, Dolly Parton, Salman Rushdie, Tom Cruise, and Sarah Jessica Parker were reported regulars; Andy Warhol and Keith Haring famously rode a motorcycle into the dining room in 1984). Service felt formal (a suited maitre d’ greeting regulars), and we were treated to amuses: a spectacular pappa al pomodoro and a disappointing, commercial-tasting cheese-and-salami offering. Bread and bottled olive oil stamped with the restaurant name were plentiful. Our panzanella ($19) had sweet tomatoes, a sharp basil-forward dressing, and disappointingly few bread gobbets, marred by a large vein of bitter baby arugula; by contrast, the pappardelle alla buttera ($39) was opulent — frilly noodles in a rich tomato-and-cream sauce with ground sausage and peas — and heavenly, easily satisfying two despite the price. The grilled rabbit ($39) was mostly bone and dry, apparently reheated, but dessert — a pale panna cotta with blueberry syrup ($15) split on two plates — was a thoughtful finish. Overall, I found Il Cantinori an excellent, if expensive, place to impress a date or for family gatherings if parents are paying, though truer Tuscan food can be found elsewhere." - Robert Sietsema