Short of a trip to Venice, Osteria al Doge offers a pretty good introduction to Venetian cuisine. As you might expect from a city that built its riches as the center of a seafaring empire, dishes such as grilled branzino (seabass), cozze al vino bianco (mussles in white wine) and carpaccio di tonno (thinly sliced yellowfin) have a prominent place here. So too do classic dishes like fegato alla Veneziana, stir-fried calves liver with browned onions and red wine vinegar, that provide a hint of the tastes that might have been inspired by a Venetian mariner's contact with the salty/sweet/sour dishes of the Far East. Start off with simple Venetian fare such as a soup of pasta e fagioli or fill your plate from a selection of grilled vegetable antipasti that are on display next to the bar. Polipo al carbone, grilled imported octopus with oven-roasted tomatoes and black olives, is a standout as an antipasta, and tagliolini alla chitarra, homemade pasta with veal and wild mushroom ragu, is rich and satisfying enough to sustain me on a 7-hour plane ride back to Los Angeles. (Damn you and your delays, John F. Kennedy airport!)
Osteria al Doge
142 W 44th St (bet B'way and 6th Ave)
New York
(212) 944-DOGE (3643)
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