Bella Vita City Grill

On a weekend night, a lot of people are pursuing the Bella Vita. The place is jammed, and both management and labor can get a bit harried. Many demands made, some met.

But, if you have to wait an unusually long time before the menu arrives, there's enough going on for momentary entertainment.

The eatery is decorated with artwork portraying assorted New Yorklandmarks, from Little Italy's Piemonte Ravioli to Broadway's Carnegie Deli. Bella Vita occasionally combines the elements of both.

Its approach is a mix of Italian nouveau and traditional, spiked with new American asides, and a pace that will be either brisk or leisurely depending on the crowd, the crew and perhaps the phases of the moon.

What matters, however, is that once you're settled in and the collective composure of the hard-pressed dining room crew is kept, Bella Vita is a likable, engaging place.

A respectable beginning: pasta e fagioli, accented with prosciutto and onions. The beans are tasty and the orecchiette pasta catches them with the certainty of Yogi Berra.

Fried calamari also is a satisfying opener, crisp and light. Grilled calamari and shrimp atop a tricolor salad is a tasty alternative.

But the eggplant rollatine is a trifle underdone. Here, the eggplant wraps around roasted peppers, asparagus and mozzarella.

The house's flatbreads have the texture of pita. You'll have to be careful about the choice of toppings, too. It's better to stick with the drier ones. Bring together broccoli rabe and mozzarella and your flatbread will be, well, very moist. Selections such as prosciutto and sun-dried tomatoes improve things. The price varies according to what crowns the disc.

Pastas are worth sampling, either as appetizers or main courses. The rigatoni tossed with tomatoes, basil and pecorino cheese is to the point and appealing. So's the elemental and generous linguine with clam sauce, white or red.

Agnolotti, however, are on the thick side, drifting in their lobster-cream sauce. The cheese ravioli in a modest meat sauce are similarly husky. They're pastas meant to steel you for the long haul.

Grilled tuna Adriatica translates into a cut of fish that has been marinated and paired with greens and tomatoes. From what part of the Adriatic this stems is a matter for further investigation. But the tuna is ample.

The herb-crusted Chilean sea bass, with spinach and portobello mushroom accompaniments, is a mild production, pleasing enough. But it's more pastel than primary. The pine nut-crusted salmon benefits from a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.

A hefty pork chop, with vinegar peppers and polenta for company, takes the blunt approach and tastes fine. Chicken Bella Vita means artichoke hearts, peppers, garlic, herbs, familiarity.

Desserts are prettily presented, as are almost all of Bella Vita's offerings. The cheesecake is very creamy in the NYC mode. Cannoli won't transport you to Sicily or, for that matter, Brooklyn. But the filling is flavorful. The sorbets are recommended.

On the right night, when you're in the right mood, so's Bella Vita City Grill.

-- Peter M. Gianotti
May 6, 2001