The Food is There at Apollinare

Adam Erace enjoys the food at Apollinare but wonders where the people are.

House-made pastas are its forte, especially when they involve Umbrian truffles, as the ravioli and gnocchetti do. Impregnated with spinach and ricotta, the round ravs seemed to drift on a silken white truffle cream like unoccupied bumper boats. Ground into a pesto with extra-virgin olive oil, salt and pepper, the coarser black truffle laid a Dalmatian’s coat over the gnocchetti, small potato dumplings so dense and irregularly shaped they resembled the spaetzle you’ll find closer to the Swiss and Austrian borders.

Look for unusual cuts like spelt maltagliati (“badly cut” trapezoids), strangozzi (“stranglers”) and the aforementioned tortelli, tortellini’s less popular older sister. Apollinare works red caviar into the tortelli dough, and the swollen pasta blushes at the lavish treatment. Besides color, the roe imbued the dough with an interesting brininess, underscoring puréed red snapper, lobster, clams and shrimp inside.

Showtime at Apollinare [City Paper]
Apollinare [Official Site]