Il Tinello Inaugural Review Our Coverage Sponsored by Fresh Origins
Gorgeous Scampi Alla Luigi
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We thought we had found every great Manhattan Italian venue...but we were wrong! Introducing the inaugural review of the impressive Il Tinello!
Opened in 1985 by Mario who has since retired, Il Tinello is owned today by Johnny Goci, whom we were delighted to meet and work with-he is front of the house, and Ben Celaj.
They took over in 2011. Devoted to fine Northern Italian cuisine, Il Tinello is a classic and a venue not to miss. Il Tinello translates into Little Dining Room. For anyone that thinks gorgeous crisp table cloths and getting dressed for dinner is yesterday's news in the midst of the fast casual trend, think again. Classics are here to stay and may dessert trays live forever.
We love this bastion of civility in fine dining, and our first dish was one we often order at a restaurant we visit for the first time: octopus.
Not everyone does octopus well, but Il Tinello does!
Served with comforting brown bread, the octopus arrives sliced already for you and is properly tender. Polpo Tinello set the tone for the high caliber of quality that Il Tinello impressed upon us. Roza fish market in New York is the source of all seafood and they deliver to Il Tinello seven days a week we were told, and this freshness is a key to their success.
Another appetizer not to be ignored are the lovely Vongole Oreganate O Casino. Six baked clams waltz in an incredible sauce, and this is one dish we did not pick out but was a dish that Il Tinello suggested. The flavor was sensational!
Every aesthetic aspect of Il Tinello we encountered was high level and the Scampi Alla Luigi was among the most beautiful dishes. Two shrimp butterflied perfectly are incredibly delicious luxuriating in a scampi sauce of white wine, garlic and fresh herbs. This was our favorite appetizer and we cannot wait to meet it again.
Bobby suggested the Zuppa Il Tinello, and it hit the spot. There is beaucoup de menu depth here across the board, and we like that we see six soup choices, especially going into the cold weather now. This soup of white beans and tubetti pasta has a delicate hot light flavor.
If you are a new reader, you should know we never ever ever edit the pictures. Either your green salad really is this gorgeously green, or it is not. We were delighted to see eight salad choices, and chose the Insalata Siciliana, a classic. Mesclun Salad is joined by tomatoes, onion properly chopped and cucumbers. This is exactly what we are looking for in a salad, particularly the level of freshness. They listened and were happy to put the dressing on the side for Ms. Pretty Picky.
On the menu, we count over 25 pasta choices, many of which we aspire to try and sound incredible. The first two we encountered were classics that were simply phenomenal. There was not a weak link during any course but if we were to say one course was the best, it was the pasta course. Both the Linguine with clam sauce, above, and the Spaghetti All Checca were perfection in terms of flavor, freshness, presentation, texture combination and pure deliciousness.
The fresh tomatoes, basil and diced mozzarella are a total dream on your palate.
If you are not that excited by mushrooms, clearly you have not had them at Il Tinello!
We are huge proponents of a balanced meal and love to see terrific sides of vegetables. This is the best Funghetti Misti we have seen anywhere in 2017. Portobello and Shittake were truly excellent, robust and flavorful.
The Carni section is superlative, and as we love garlic, we chose Pollo Scarpariello, further enhanced by green beans and potatoes. A generous portion of chicken-seven pieces we counted-was tender, boneless and had the right amount of garlic for most people...but since she loves it, Peachy might have added even more. This is another classic that Il Tinello nailed! The chicken is sourced from F & J , a New York vendor that delivers this organic chicken six times a week.
Twice a year about 15% of the menu changes seasonally at Il Tinello.
We also are in love with saffron, and were excited to see Scallops Toscano on the menu. It normally comes with spinach which visually, nutritionally, and flavorfully sets off the scallops nicely. The scallops were seared to perfection and absolutely jubilant in the superb saffron sauce.
One of the most difficult decisions in Manhattan dining is narrowing it down to one dessert. We chose zabaione! It was amazing and made fresh right in front of us with sugar, marsala wine, and two egg yolks. Strawberries, blueberries and raspberries dove into it gracefully, and it all lived happily ever after in Peachy's stomach.
We were so impressed on our first visit at Il Tinello and we look forward to seeing what they do next.
