By Suzanne Parker
The density of Italian restaurants along the stretch of Metropolitan Avenue that falls within the boundaries of Forest Hills, 11375, probably surpasses some towns in Italy. Our informal count (including two pizzerias — one plain, one fancy) is eight. Pasta galore!
We know that a critical mass of one type of business draws more patrons by offering wider choices, and consumers benefit from competition. Still, we’ve got to wonder how many Italian restaurants one not particularly Italian neighborhood can support. Even when an Italian restaurant fails on this strip, it seems to be inevitably replaced not by a fish restaurant, a hardware store or a boutique, but by another Italian restaurant, as evidenced by the recent arrival of Il Poeta at the former digs of Luna Sur.
Il Poeta is an upscale eatery featuring mostly Northern Italian fare. The interior decorations pay homage to Chef Mario di Chiara’s Venetian origins with masks and glass, and to its namesake with paintings of Dante and other Italian poets. The crisp table linens, fairly generous table spacing and attentive service attest to its fine dining aspirations.
The menu at Il Poeta is small but interesting and supplemented by daily specials. Of the antipasti, we were blown away by carciofi in tegamino, baked artichokes served with shrimp and smoked scamorza cheese (slightly aged mozzarella), an appetizer that we’d love to see offered as a main course. The calamari dorati, or fried calamari, were perfectly light and delicate without rubberiness, but the accompanying marinara sauce lacked character apart from a slight peppery afterburn. Tartar sauce was also served, but we would have preferred a more complex marinara.
Tagliotini del poeta, their signature pasta, was drenched in an overly rich porcini cream sauce and wrapped in proscuitto. If you’re going to indulge in something rich, we vastly preferred their risottos, like the silken wonder of pears and gorgonzola, a recent “risotto del giorno.”
Veal scaloppini is also offered “del giorno.” When we looked bored by the prospect of veal picatta, that day’s offering, our server returned to the kitchen to consult with the chef. The result was a winning combination — veal cutlet with spinach, broccoli rabe, scamorza cheese and speck, a slightly Germanic variant of proscuitto in a light, brown sauce.
Braised short ribs of beef over mashed potatoes, sauced with a balsamic reduction, was another rewarding choice. The meat was melt−in−your−mouth, and the sauce had real depth of character.
The guazzetto di pesce con crostini all’aglio — seafood and fish stew in a light tomato and garlic broth served with crostini — was our biggest disappointment. Unlike our earlier, well−prepared fried calamari, the calamari in the stew, a significant proportion of the contents, was tough and rubbery. The sauce tasted like a thinner version of the marinara sauce we disliked earlier, with a very unassertive garlic flavor.
Temptation as a marketing tool is skillfully employed when the dessert selections are flaunted tableside to demolish resolve. We succumbed to a toothsome slice of panettone slathered with coffee−infused mascarpone sauce. What would have been a lovely individual pear tart with a touch of marzipan became soggy from having been warmed.
The Bottom Line
Il Poeta is an up−and−comer in this neighborhood already so well served by Italian eateries. There is talent in the kitchen, and attention to the comfort of the patrons in the front of the house. Their vibe is upscale with prices to match. It seems like for all its diversity, Forest Hills has become a mecca for eating Italian.
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.
Il Poeta
98−04 Metropolitan Ave.
Forest Hills, NY 11375
718−544−4223
Prices: Appetizers $9.50−$11.50; Pasta $14.50−$18; EntrÉes: $19.50−$28.50
Cuisine: Northern Italian
Setting: Small, comfortable, cloth table linens.
Service: Solicitous
Hours: Lunch & dinner daily
Reservations: Optional
Alcohol: Wine and beer
Parking: Street.
Dress: Casual
Children: No menu
Music: Recorded
Takeout: Yes
Credit Cards: Yes
Noise Level: Acceptable
Handicap Accessible: Yes
