To Il Torchio Once More!

I'm finally getting around to posting about all the eating out I did while I had family in town last weekend. I was unable to join them the first night they were here, but Mick took them to Tamboril and everyone agreed it was pretty great. No pictures, though, because apparently if I'm not there, there's no reason to document it. One nice thing about that night was what they brought home for me. I got a text from them at the restaurant asking if I'd like them to bring anything back, and if so, what. I said just bring me something spicy! The chef ended up making me a shrimp, spinach, and rice dish that was off the menu that turned out to be exactly what I needed. Spicy as hell and not too heavy. So that was Thursday.

On Friday we debated between Il Torchio and Graziella's. Actually, that's a lie, since we initially debated between Graziella's and the Stonehome Wine Bar. We decided on the latter, only to drive down there and discover a fourty-five minute to an hour wait for a table. That certainly wouldn't do, so we went with plan C: Il Torchio.

This was my third time there, and I've yet to have anything but a great meal. We went through three or four bottles of wine, a few different tapas, a cheese plate, and an entrée for each of us.

I had the Saffron Linguine, which has clams, calamari, and pepperoncini in a white wine sauce. Out of everything I've ever had here, this was the most disappointing. Not because it wasn't good - it was - but because there was so little of it. It seemed like there was only half a portion of pasta, especially when compared to the giant heaping bowls every other dish seems to consist of.

Among other things we ordered were the Penne "Il Torchio," penne pasta in a plum tomato sauce with bufala mozarella, the Taglioni, and the Risotto Del Giorno. Not a bad dish in the bunch, there.

One last quick note: our waitress accidentally spilled some water during the meal, and the staff was not only quick to clean everything up, but offered us free desserts for our trouble. Among other things, we tried the Cantuccini Con Vinsanto, a biscotti-like almond cookie (the cantuccini) served with Vinsanto, a sweet, muscat-like dessert wine. It came highly recommended, and with good reason.

Information:

Il Torchio
458 Myrtle Ave
Brooklyn, NY
718.422.1122

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