La Taverna

Well, well, Manhattan Ave has an Italian place.

Tonight the Empire State Building is Green White and Red. No, it's not for Italy but it should be because there's a very underrated little spot at 946 Manhattan Ave (between Kent St & Java St) in Greenpoint Brooklyn. (The Rockettes Christmas Spectacular opening for the year takes precedence on the lighting schema, I guess...)
A couple weeks ago, while walking down Manhattan, a friendly dude came out and introduced himself to me. Geno is the manager of Taverna. I wasn't in the market to eat pasta at this point since it was still...oh, 80 degrees on average until the beginning of October but i make a little mental bookmarking of the gesture.

Tonight I finally made my way into La Taverna. After procrastinating on a somewhat empty fridge and empty stomach, i set out to find sustenance somewhere in the streets of Greenpoint. Local market closed, I have no choice but to finally stop in. Totally worth it.

The place itself is right at the corner so it's got nice window action. The furniture is a little medieval but OK. Geno is probably working that whole Medici vibe. He plays some Italian tunes, too....which might be weird if you're not Italian speaking-which pretty much rules out everyone in Greenpoint except Geno and myself. They opened in an old Polish bookstore earlier this year and they are still lacking a liquor licence which would probably help alleviate the lack of crowd.

Something this place has going for it is it's extreme value. Seriously, it's downright cheap. Delicious homemade lentil soup for $3.95, calamari (grilled or fried) for 5.95. Pasta dishes between $6 and $9 and most entrees below $13, it's a serious deal.

The food, price notwithstanding, is actually very good. Wandering in around 9:00, we had the place to ourselves. Geno brought out some very fresh bread and spiced oil, and personally thanked us for coming in. So we're off to a good start...which means I'll order calamari. I love calamari, it's my guilty pleasure, so i have to be in the right state of mind to even risk having bad calamari. Tonight's was good, if not perfect....the sauce was a bit under-salted but that's easily corrected on my end. Which reminds me.....they make all their sauces in-house. There is a sauce for each dish. This is not a "slather subpar red sauce all over everything" Italian place. me likey.

This brings me to the main courses. Had to try a pasta dish....had I known before I ordered, like I do now, that La Taverna makes their own gnocchi, i would have had that. They offer a few varieties but, if I am to believe Geno, who at this point wasn't trying to sell me anything as I'm paying the check, the gnocchi is light and delicious. I will fact check this.....trust me. We get rigatoni alla siciliana (pasta alla norma if you're in sicily...) and a stuffed porkchop which was so out of character for both of us that the delicious surprise it ended up being was even more worth it. The pasta was cooked just right, the sauce was light and the veggies were all fresh. Add some fresh basil and ricotta and you've got a winner for $8. The porkchop was the best pork I've ever had. I guess I'm not qualified to be an authority on this because I rarely eat it but it's stuffed with mozzerella and herbs, dipped in a garlic sauce and covered in sauteed mushrooms. Served with rustic roasted potatoes and veggies, it's a filling dish but we wanted to finish it...and hey, not porkchop fans.

oh, don't let me forget that, in addition to making a lot of their own pasta and all of their own sauces, they make their own tiramisu. fresh. tiramisu. stop in just to try that.

I officially love this place. Even though it's a tiny bit tacky, Greenpoint needed a traditional Italian place that has more to offer than marinara and meatballs. If they could only get a liquor license, they'd be pulling in a larger crowd I think, but they DO have an impressive espresso machine behind the bar at the moment. They also take credit cards (big plus for the neighborhood!) and deliver. Give them a try. Say hi to Geno.