Osteria Mattone

Osteria Mattone Restaurant Review:

About the restaurant: Originally at Ryan Pernice's other neighborhood restaurant, Table & Main, former chef and co-owner Ted Lahey established a comfortable Italian dining spot but then left the venue. Taking over is Chicago-born and New York-trained Eric Sell, who will only maintain the current menu until it's time to change it with the seasons. Several dining spaces take aesthetic advantage of the historic charm provided by brick walls and hardwood floors. Table sizes include a fair number of two-tops, which work well for date purposes.

Food & Drinks: Lentils and house-made cotechino sausage is almost like a soup. We enjoyed sharing a generous portion of spaghetti alle vongole, loaded with chopped middle neck clams and a good portion still in the shell. Check the specials: the langostino-topped cioppino in a light, well-seasoned tomato broth was loaded with fish and shellfish. Other options include fresh cod, branzino (sea bass) and Verlasso salmon (sustainably farmed Pacific salmon from Chile). Pork, chicken, veal and lamb round out the options. Vegetarians will have no trouble selecting from the contorni, which include a mushroom risotto, grilled eggplant and sautéed spinach. Drizzled with a warm cider raisin sauce, the carrot cake may not seem particularly Italian, but it's so good you won't care. Italian wines star on the list, which presents a large book of first-rate selections. Expect beers, apéritifs, spirits of all sorts, and after-dinner libations, too.