Small Plates and Big Flavors at Tredici Enoteca
Tredici Enoteca, Midtown Village’s newest Mediterranean destination, was surprisingly buzzing for 5pm on a Tuesday. And it’s no wonder people are flocking there– with a stylish, tastefully understated atmosphere that allows the food and wine to take the spotlight, Tredici has been dubbed “Zavino’s sophisticated sister.”
An “enoteca” is a wine bar dedicated to allowing patrons to taste small quantities of several different types of wine before they buy them. With an extensive wine list offering both half and full glasses, Tredici encourages customers to sample without any pressure to buy a bottle.
Our server, Adrian, enthusiastically offered to guide us through a selection of small plates and wines on the menu. So we sat back and let Adrian take the lead as he brought us dishes customers have been loving the most, as well as his personal favorites.
We started with bacon-wrapped dates, mushroom toast, and half glasses of pinot noir. The dates were ripe and sweet, and the salty bite of bacon and subtly acidic kick of the spinach cream sauce cut right through the richness in all the best places. The maiitake mushroom toast, a lightly toasted slice of bread with a cheesy, umami-laced concoction on top, was delicious but a bit underwhelming next to the dates. Small caveat: the toast was delicious, but it was difficult to eat with a fork and impossible to eat (gracefully) with your hands, so order during a date at your own risk. The wine’s dryness played against the richness of the plates.
Next came a selection of crudo, or raw fish, a nod to Tredici’s pan-Mediterranean cuisine. The tuna with avocado and black sesame and fluke with grapefruit were not unlike sashimi at your every day sushi restaurant. In fact, they were exactly like sashimi, except with olive oil drizzled on top. The fish tasted fresh and paired well with white wine, but overall the crudo felt a bit out of place.
A salad of zucchini with mint pesto and pistachios was a much more fitting palate cleanser. The spiraled zucchini noodles made me want to shell out the cash for a vegetable spiralizer right then and there, and the mint pesto managed to be savory and refreshing at the same time.
The main courses arrived next. The obvious star was the hanger steak, drizzled with a sweet, acidic red wine reduction and served with cipollini onions and mushrooms. Once the meat was gone, we found ourselves dipping whatever stray vegetables we could find into the leftover meat juice and red wine mixture. Perfect.
The lollipop lamb chops, plated beautifully, were a bit dry and needed the mint pistachio pesto that came with the dish to fully satisfy. The reginetti pasta, served in a braised lamb bolognese sauce with mint ricotta, was delicious. The brussels sprouts were my favorite dish of the evening. Caramelized to perfection with a hint of sweet citrus, they were just too good not to box up for later.
Lastly, we tried the restaurant’s two dessert offerings. The deconstructed tiramisu was wonderful as tiramisu is wont to be, but the butterscotch pot de creme was a standout. Milky, sweet, buttery, and a little salty. The port wine was heavy and sweet, almost a dessert in and of itself.
We left Tredici Enoteca feeling very well-fed, well cared for, and a little tipsy (all those half-glasses of wine add up quick). Overall, with excellent service and a unique take on classic Mediterranean favorites, it’s clear that Tredici is here to stay.
-Bethany Cristy