First Look: Tredici

The folks behind Zavino have officially opened the doors of their third restaurant and this time they’re moving past their pizza and wine concept. Tredici (say it with me: tray-dee-chee), which means thirteen in Italian, is located on 13th street at Sansom, just across from their original space. While Zavino is dark reds and browns, Tredici is all grown up in blonde and gray and gold. The space is luxe, people. A herringbone-patterned floor, brass fixtures, and a cool marble bar make for a restaurant that feels old-world and not like a Midtown Village newcomer at all.

The wine program will be a particular draw at this new spot. Overseen by Director of Operations Jason Brooke, Tredici is keeping things focused on wines by the glass. They are running a Cruvinet system for premium pours of 2 whites and 4 reds, plus 24 additional wines by the glass. Most restaurants set pricing that incentivizes buying wine by the bottle and, as we’ve seen in many a comments section, this leads to all kinds of drama and self-righteousness about wine mark-up and whatnot.

Tredici is, instead, offering the mix-and-match option of a half pour or a full pour, so if you like, you can basically customize your own wine pairing to accompany your meal. What’s more, a full pour at Tredici is a fourth of a bottle–that’s 6.34 ounces, for those of you to whom it matters–and a half glass is an eighth of a bottle (3.17 ounces), which means that you’re getting more wine per glass than you’ll typically seen poured around town. Prices are fair, there are even bargains to be found, and the list includes plenty for both your nerdy wine friends who want to drink something special and your mom who just wants a nice glass of white.

Like the wine selection, which hails from everywhere and specializes nowhere, chef Carlos Aparicio’s menu is a quirky mash-up of small plates for mixing and matching. Ideal for the sparkling wine section of the menu, plates of simply dressed crudo–such as the tuna with citrus soy, avocado, and black sesame–or offerings like Jonah crab claws and oysters from their raw bar make for lovely snacking while sipping. True to the restaurant’s Italian name, you’ll find Italian flavors in pastas like lamb reginetti with mint ricotta; or little green nuggets of spinach gnocchi with butternut squash, sage, and brown butter. Just the same, you’ll find pan-Mediterranean flavors in the falafel, hummus, and quinoa tabouli on the Mediterranean tasting board or chunky tumbles such as carrots with cumin and yogurt or broccoli with avocado and sesame in the 5-dish “veggie” section of the menu. If you simply must have a larger plate there are also more formulaic dishes such as pork milanese or striped bass with brussels sprouts and salsa verde.

They open their floor-to-ceiling glass doors each day at 4:00, so grab a seat in one of their plush barstools next time you’re on Tredici Street.

Tredici [f8b8z]