James M.
Yelp
***Long, informative review!***
I go into this review with a small amount of bias: I worked under an Italian chef that used to run his own dinner service in Astoria from 2015 to 2017. I moved out of the area shortly after that stint, but I still check the town out from time to time. This place caught my attention, and I decided to check it out. Twice!
Night 1 was incredible. We came in around 6:00.
* The mortadella crostini was a very good appetizer. Mortadella, artichoke, EVOO and good bread? Hell yeah.
* The romaine salad with albacore was much better than I would have expected. It had the subtle nuances of a caesar salad, with chunks of albacore laden throughout.
* The spaghetti carbonara was absolutely incredible. I hadn't had carbonara that good since the last time I was in Brooklyn. The thick, but loose emulsification of the eggs, guanciale fat, pecorino and pasta water was perfection. And housemade spaghetti, to boot!
* The yellow bean dish with vinegar, white wine, garlic and EVOO was perfection. Perfect side dish.
Night 2 was noticeably less impressive than night 1. We came in shortly after they opened, around 3:30.
* The deviled eggs were pretty good. Well prepared, but, yaknow, nothing spectacular.
* The creste di gallo dish with eggplant, tomato, cheese (don't remember what it was specifically) was pretty underwhelming. The tomato sauce was pretty acidic, and the eggplant almost tasted like it was simmered from raw in the sauce. Salt would have helped the dish tremendously - all I was able to taste was pasta and undercooked tomato.
* The madalde, in the style of cacio e pepe, was delicious. I would have been impressed if they managed to mess this up.
* Ravioli with ricotta, fennel, salmon... man, that was not very good. Either the pasta was worked too much, or it was undercooked, like below al dente. To boot, it tasted like an overwhelmingly bright salmon pâté, with nothing to balance that flavor. Cooks should always taste their food before sending it out - I would have not sent this out.
* Additionally, someone at my table got the clam linguine - it was very dry, with almost no brodo, and incredibly underwhelming. I encouraged him to save bread for the brodo before it came out, but there wasn't much to speak of when it was served.
The drinks, although good, were all entirely too sweet. I was surprised to find the amaro nonino to be the least sweet drink I had.
At the end of the day, Fede is doing Astoria a huge favor by being around and providing its food to the community. I'm hopeful that this place will become the best restaurant in Astoria.