"When Massara’s host hits you with a “Ciao,” it’s fair to wonder if that’s the extent of their Italian. Either way, the greeting feels appropriate. It sets the stage for an immersive evening of textbook Neapolitan pies, bicolor mezzelune, and perspiring glasses of aglianico rosé produced in the backyard of an extinct volcano. An elaborate tribute to the Southern Italian region of Campania, this Flatiron restaurant is from the team behind Rezdôra, a little spot up the street with a deep fixation on the pastas of Emilia-Romagna. We're fans, but the narrow focus holds that place back. photo credit: Kate Previte photo credit: Kate Previte photo credit: Kate Previte Here, pastas are only part of the equation. This two-story restaurant also offers simply charred langoustines, travertine flagstone floors, and frosty metal saucers stuffed with gelato. The snug ground floor is as cool as a wine cellar, and the sunlit upper level, with its olive green walls and cavernous skylight, is perfect for a date night with Ischian wine. The attention to detail is obsessive, and it extends to everything coming out of the kitchen. Massara’s pastas are petite, but action packed. Even if you're solo at one of the bars, you should still aim to take down two. Start with the cold spaghetti crowned with uni and raw red prawn, then go for the candele with a beef-shank ragu that clings to your taste buds. If the mezzelune is available, order that as well, if only to study the engineering: half of each pouch is filled with soppressata, and the other contains a blend of peas and caciocavallo that smooths out the flavor of the punchy cured meat. photo credit: Kate Previte photo credit: Kate Previte photo credit: Kate Previte Don’t save room for mains. They’re perfectly fine, but a whole branzino isn't the best way to experience this place. Try a pizzette instead. The snack-sized pie won’t interfere with your pasta agenda, and it’ll arrive perfectly charred and exceedingly puffy. If you want to know the secret, it may have something to do with the 35-year-old starter, or the wood-fired oven hauled in from Naples. Here, nothing is overlooked, and it all adds up. Food Rundown photo credit: Kate Previte Polpo Massara’s octopus is soft as fresh mozzarella, with a lingering smoky flavor. Of the few antipasti, it’s our top pick. photo credit: Kate Previte Stagione The pizzettes aren’t necessarily the headliners here, but don’t ignore them. Go for the stagione, with sweet asparagus and funky black truffle that fit together like the two sides of a heart-shaped locket. photo credit: Kate Previte Mezzelune We've heard these little pouches of pea and soppressata might be leaving the menu. If that happens, don't reach out. We'll need some alone time. photo credit: Kate Previte Candele As they proved at Rezdôra, these people know how to make a ragu. This one’s Genovese, and its incredibly concentrated, with lots of shredded beef and slow-cooked onion flavor. If you want something meatier, it’s the right choice. photo credit: Kate Previte If Pasta Fredda Was Eaten In Amalfi It’s tough to say what the Amalfi Coast tastes like. But this must be it. Thick, cold, and coated in a light tomato sauce, the little nest of spaghetti comes topped with uni and raw red prawn. Pasta Mista Classica One great thing about Massara: they serve pastas you won’t find elsewhere. This one contains a grab bag of shapes like lumachine, fusilli, and casarecce, along with little cubes of potato. Invented in Campania as an odds-and-ends dish to make use of scraps, it’s now an unlikely highlight of this restaurant's menu. photo credit: Alex Staniloff Cheesemakers Raviolini You may have seen pictures of these undersized ravioli. The candy-sweet pomodoro is fun for a bit, but this is far from the most exciting dish here. Langostino Alla Brace If you have an extra $60 to spend on a single forearm-sized crustacean, absolutely do it. The langoustine is simply grilled, and it pairs exceptionally with Massara's myrtle berry gin sour, inspired by Sardinia. photo credit: Kate Previte Gelato Cap things off with some gelato that's thick enough to use an industrial adhesive. The pistachio flavor tastes like the pure, true essence of the nut, with a heap of chocolate chips in it." - Bryan Kim
