By Suzanne Parker
Change is good, and when it comes to politics we’re all for it. But in some areas we’re very resistant to change. Like, for example, when it comes to our favorite neighborhood Italian restaurant.
As a regular at La Tavernetta, I greeted with trepidation its owner’s decision to move his operation from the backwaters of Glendale to the more accessible Metropolitan Avenue in Forest Hills. Maybe La Tavernetta had outgrown its cramped quarters, but we worried about it losing some of its I−know−a−secret cachet. Would it be crushed by the competiveness of the Forest Hills restaurant scene?
We needn’t have worried. The now renamed La Tavernetta Europa’s two greatest assets remain intact. The food is still outstanding, with an expanded menu of pan−European speciaties added to the Italian fare. The warm, friendly atmosphere generated by chefâ„owner Michael Zampitelli, who darts between the front and back of the house, still defines the La Tavernetta experience.
Indeed, each patron is greeted so effusively, it would be easy to get the impression that La Tavernetta serves only family and old friends. At lunchtime you always see members of the building trades, often speaking Italian, the urban equivalent of the endorsement of seeing trucks parked at a roadside cafÉ. These guys know how to eat.
The new space is not dramatically larger than the old location. A few more tables have elevated La Tavernetta from tiny to small. The premises have been spruced up from its former incarnation with newly fauxed walls and some colorful abstract paintings. The only misstep is a flat−screen TV playing music videos that, depending on your taste in music, can be distracting, to say the least. The downside of a large, loyal following is that it can be noisy, and the music videos only tend to increase the noise level when the house is full.
The menu — which is, after all, what it is all about — keeps what was wonderful about the old La Tavernetta and enlarges on the theme. The hot antipasto (for 2) is a sampler of Italian classics such as calamari, stuffed mushies and clams, and eggplant rollatini. The fried calamari is always light and crisp, never rubbery, with a piquant red sauce. The eggplant rollatini is perfect.
On a recent visit we enjoyed a pureed potato and leek soup that was creamy and intensely flavorful, seemingly without the addition of cream. It was a special, so if it appears on the menu when you’re there, go for it. Salads, especially the Caesar, are reliably good light starters.
The homemade pastas here are masterful. Veal ravioli with butter, sage, and mushroom sauce (cappellacci ci vitello al burro, salvia e funghi) is our favorite, with the lobster ravioli with salmon and vodka sauce running a close second. But consider the pasta specials, as we recently did with an unusual pasta called “casareccia,” a curving, twisted double tube that catches the sauce in its grooves. It came drenched in a luscious rosy sauce studded generously with bits of lobster.
Veal ossobuco with saffron rice Milanese has been a longstanding favorite of ours here, but with a new menu we were determined to try something new. From the “Hello Europa” section of the menu we chose Hungarian beef goulash with spatzli. This was soul−satisfying chunks of beef in a sauce enlivened by a skillful blending herbs and spices. Paprika and coriander were the obvious ones, but some other mystery ingredients were doing their job. The spatzli was like what my Hungarian grandmother would have made if I happened to have had a Hungarian grandmother.
Another entrÉe, veal loin scallopine with smoked proscuitto, fontina cheese and black truffle sauce is an elegant dish. The smokiness of the prosciutto and the bits of truffle is a divine combination.
If you get lucky, there might be a dessert special on (or off) the menu. Otherwise the desserts are from Bindi, a highly regarded purveyor of sweet things. They are mostly riffs on a mousse theme in various guises.
The Bottom Line
La Tavernetta, now La Tavernetta Europa, continues to do what it does best. It serves great food in a congenial atmosphere of warm hospitality. Instead of a separate lunch menu, they deduct 20% from the regular menu at lunch time, and have a tempting selection of panini and heroes.
Suzanne Parker is the TimesLedger’s restaurant critic and author of “Eating Like Queens: A Guide to Ethnic Dining in America’s Melting Pot, Queens, N.Y.” She can be reached by e−mail at qnsfoodie@aol.com.
La Tavernetta Europa
100−05 Metropolitan Ave.
Forest Hills, NY 11375
718−268−1464
Cuisine: Northern Italian
Setting: Small, cheerfully unpretentious
Service: Friendly and accommodating
Hours: Lunch & dinner daily
Reservations: Recommended on weekends
Alcohol: Wine & beer
Parking: Street
Dress: Casual
Children: Welcome
Music: Recorded
Takeout: Yes, 20% discount from menu prices
Credit cards: Yes
Noise Level: Noisy
Handicap Accessible: Yes
A SAMPLE FROM THE MENU
Fried calamari … $13.95
Hot antipasto (for 2) . ..$16.95
Veal ravioli … $14.95
Lobster ravioli … $16.95
Beef goulash … $21.95
Veal scallopini with smoked prosciutto … $26.95
All panini … $7.95
