Italian Kitchen has been packed since its summer debut

Italian Kitchen                ★★★ 1/2 stars
698 Saw Mill River Rd, Ardsley
(914) 693-5400; ik-ny.com
Hours: lunch, Wed to Sun 11:30 am-2 pm; dinner, Wed to Sat 5:30 pm–10 pm; Sun to Mon 5:30 pm–9 pm
Appetizers: $6-$12; entrées: $21-$25; desserts: $7-$9

Do restaurants, like the goddess Athena, leap fully formed from their generators’ heads? No, they do not; most struggle, even Irvington’s MP Taverna, a restaurant whose Westchester debut had no apparent missteps. Of course, in that case, the kinks on MP Taverna’s menu were worked out at its original outpost in Roslyn, New York. Chef Shea Gallante’s Italian Kitchen in Ardsley had no such luxury. This restaurant opened in July and is still finding its legs.

The intimate, barbell-shaped space—long and narrow, split by a kitchen and tiny service bar/waiters’ station—is painted a golden corn color and is so simply decorated that it can feel sparse. Weathered barn boards create texture below chair height while large-format, black-and-white photos of eating Italians provide eye candy. Over a lintel, you’ll see the now-ubiquitous shelf staged with rustic crockery, kitchen tools, and the odd cookbook. Italian Kitchen borders on cramped, with diners at tables for two seated, not facing each other, but in adjacent chairs and looking outward. That said, these rooms are welcoming, and the restaurant’s servers are gracious and well-informed. Diners make the best of it aided by a gently priced, Italophilic wine list that offers several bottles in the $29 to $40 range. Since opening, Italian Kitchen has been wildly popular. Tables are scarce, and there is no bar at which to wait; be sure to call or book online before you arrive.

impossibly juicy chicken, prepared under a brick.

At times, IK’s food can be transcendent—like the starter of grilled robiola flatbread, still smoky from the fire. It was eye-rollingly fragrant and laced with shimmering olive oil; earthy speck; and peppery, crunchy arugula leaves. Or radicchio di Treviso, daringly charred, served in a ramekin with feathery white anchovies. This special came with a simple crostino of roasted tomato and fig jam and a couple of slices of speck, all homey and delicious. Unfortunately, like that Treviso special, the delicious flatbread may prove to be evanescent. When we spoke, Gallante was considering discontinuing the flatbreads because they were difficult to execute in the restaurant’s miniscule kitchen. (Sadly, he’s right: On a second try, the flatbread was served at room temperature, and it was nowhere near as sexy as the first.)

Gallante, Italian Kitchen’s executive chef and owner, is no stranger to foodies. This young, TV-handsome chef of Manhattan’s Cru and Ciano (and a Westchester native), won Food & Wine magazine’s coveted Best New Chef award in 2005. He’s a regular on the Today show and on the Food Network, and continues to cook to wild acclaim at Ciano. Chef Paul Mancebo (who was at DB Bistro Moderne and at Ciano) will be handling Italian Kitchen’s day-to-day operations, though I spotted Gallante, an Ardsley resident, on all but one visit. He was attentively expediting meals from Italian Kitchen’s tiny service bar with one eye on the crowd.

Those who know of Gallante’s work will not be surprised by the restaurant’s excellent house-made pastas, which, at Italian Kitchen, include melting cavatelli and pod-shaped cortecce. This pasta’s satisfying, meaty chew is belied by a delightful, silken slipperiness. Pastas are offered in appetizer and main portions, and, given their quality, should not be skipped. (NB: Italian Kitchen will split one serving among two diners as a pasta course for a small charge.) At best, pastas like Italian Kitchen’s cavatelli with white Bolognese sauce offer enough aristocratic excellence to endorse Gallante’s rep. In this dish, a golden, lushly fatty sauce is deployed with restraint. It’s carnal, yet refined.

At its worst, Italian Kitchen offers more common-denominator dishes than one might hope from such an elite team. There is the blah fritto misto heaped with golden calamari rings—a well-executed version, but one that could (and does) appear in Anywhere, USA, along with that staged shelf of cookbooks. One wonders if a suburban corner Italian-American restaurant provided the model for that baked rigatoni with smoked mozzarella and pancetta or the tomato-sauced crêpes rolled around ricotta cheese. These dishes feel like Italian Kitchen underestimates the relative sophistication of Westchester diners. Also, Italian Kitchen has a tendency to slip with salt: We had a wincingly over-salted pappardelle with duck ragu, and some scorchingly briny greens under an otherwise perfect hanger steak.

Gaffes aside, this kitchen’s technical flair is evident in dishes as common as chicken al mattone (cooked under a brick), which was so full of juice that it nearly defied reason, or the starter of braised Berkshire pork belly in which the skin was rendered as shatteringly crisp as stained glass. We hope that these dishes make the cut because, to be sure, cuts are coming. Gallante’s team is training an eye on the dishes that work (and don’t), and they’re refining Italian Kitchen’s menu from week to week.

While they last, don’t miss a buttermilk panna cotta served with tart blackberry compote and the changing selection of warm, crumbly tarts made with orchard fruits. We loved a countrified plum and apple tart served with a cool, satisfying quenelle of vanilla gelato. Its flavors were perfect to savor while pondering where Italian Kitchen will be in a few months’ time.

Photos by Xavier Mascarenas/TJN

Italian Kitchen, the new restaurant in Ardsley owned by chef Shea Gallante, is giving Dobbs Ferry darling The Cookery some stiff competition when it comes to modern Italian food.

But not to worry, there’s room for everyone. Look carefully and you’ll find a world of difference between the two restaurants. While David DiBari, the chef-owner of The Cookery, plays fast and loose with bold flavors, offal and all things pig, Shea Gallante takes a softer, more even-handed approach to his menu. That’s not a surprise considering Gallante came up through such kitchens such as Bouley and Felidia, both in Manhattan. At Italian Kitchen, like at his other restaurant, Ciano, in Manhattan, Gallante takes a cuisine known for its simplicity and pairs it down even further to the essence of its ingredients. He may play with your expectations a bit, but he won’t try to shock and awe.

You might think of Italian Kitchen as The Cookery’s sophisticated, well-traveled older brother. But that doesn’t mean stuck-up or boring. You will walk away from a meal at IK dying to return. Soon. And while you’re there, you will wonder how Gallante, above left, and his executive chef, Paul Mancebo, above right, who also worked at Ciano, pull it off. How do they cram so much flavor into each morsel, yet keep each dish so balanced? I wondered myself at a recent meal. In the end, I just decided I don’t need to know the answer. I just enjoyed. And yes, plotted my return.

The restaurant is small and casual with sunny painted walls and a rustic interior complete with bookshelves holding cookbooks and kitchen tools. There’s a narrow front dining room, a service bar in the center of the room, and a rear dining room that’s more square. Black-and-white photos show people loving food. Which is what you’re about to do, too.

698 Saw Mill River Rd, Ardsley

(914) 693-5400; ik-ny.com

It’s not like Shea Gallante hasn’t flirted with Westchester before. Then the celebrated young chef of Cru, he originally was slated to head up the kitchen at Port Chester’s Arrosto, but Gallante broke local hearts when he bailed from the project to debut his own Manhattan restaurant, Ciano (to wild acclaim). Two years later, the Westchester native and Ardsley resident has finally opened his own county shop. He’s the sole owner of Italian Kitchen in Ardsley. Taking over day-to-day operations while Gallante is at Ciano is Executive Chef Paul Mancebo, a longtime Gallante kitchen staffer.

As might be expected by anyone who has eaten at any of Gallante’s other restaurants, pasta at Italian Kitchen is revelatory. It’s delicious and marked by charming, handmade irregularities, but it’s also reasonably priced at $13 to $19 per generous portion (which the kitchen is happy to split as a pasta course). Don’t miss the tender, flavorful cavatelli, lightly dressed in sweetly porky ragu, or heavenly pappardelle Bolognese, the perfect Sunday family pasta. The real surprise is Italian Kitchen’s grilled pizzas, including a charred-yet-chewy pecorino-and-guanciale pie, so salty and porky and virtually impossible not to love. Also a hit: Gallante’s reasonably priced, Italo-centric wine list. This small neighborhood restaurant benefits from Gallante’s wine-world pull with unusual bottles offered at an excellent value.

The kitchen, at Italian Kitchen, will be run by Executive Chef Paul Mancebo. Mancebo follows Gallante from his much-praised Manhattan restaurant, Ciano, where he has worked under Gallante as a Sous Chef for the past year and a half. Together, the pair will offer a menu that boasts a wide variety of small and large plate options that highlight the best available ingredients of the season, and include dishes like: Roasted Beets with Balsamico, Pistachios and Stracchino Cheese; Octopus alla Griglia with Fingerling Potatoes, Tomato and Roasted Garlic; Grilled Filet of Bass with Tomato, Black Olives, Gnochetti and Caper-Parsley Sauce; and Roasted Hanger Steak with Polenta, Caramelized Onions and Radicchio.  Following the success at Ciano, Italian Kitchen will offer a selection of Grilled Pizzas, like; Robiola with Speck and Arugula; Pecorino, Guanciale, Pesto and Smoked Onions; and Quattro Formaggi: Fontina, Parmigiano, Ricotta, Pecorino. Italian Kitchen will also offer a wide selection of Gallante’s signature house-made pastas, like: Cavatelli con Amatriciana; Baked Rigatoni with Smoked Mozzarella and Pork Ragu; “Rotolo” Fresh Pasta Roulade with Sausage, Ricotta and Broccoli Rabe. Gallante and Mancebo will also be hosting a variety of Themed Tastings (Pasta, Vegetables, Seafood) on selected nights each month, presenting a variety of off the menu dishes.

The dessert program at Italian Kitchen will offer a selection of seasonally inspired traditional Italian favorites like Panna Cotta with Spiced Blueberries, Almond & Peach Crostata; a Decadent Gianduja Tart and Seasonal Gelati and Sorbetti.

Gallante calls upon longtime friend and colleague, John Slover to assist with the wine list. Slover, who was named one of Food & Wine’s Top Sommeliers of 2011 for his innovative approach to the wine list at Ciano, has cultivated a list of roughly 30 different offerings to perfectly complement the food at Italian Kitchen, available by the glass or bottle. One Sunday each month, he will also host a wine dinner, presenting lesser known bottles and vintages and a specially designed dinner menu.

Gallante spearheaded the design of Italian Kitchen, drawing inspiration from the rustic charm of its Ardsley location. The space boasts reclaimed wood gathered from Dutchess County, of his childhood. The reclaimed wood lines the restaurant’s polenta-colored walls, and frosted glass light fixtures pay homage to the location’s original owner, Ardsley restaurant institution Giuseppe’s. Classic wooden tables and chairs round out the charming, rustic atmosphere. The restaurant can comfortably hold 55 seats, and the space is divided into three different sections: a 25-seat front dining room, central bar and 30-seat rear dining area.

Italian Kitchen opens July 2012. The restaurant is located at 689 Saw Mill River Road, Ardsley, NY. For more information, please call 914-693-5400 , email info@ik-ny.com

The restaurant will serve seasonal Italian cuisine, such as grilled pizza, pasta, salads and entrees—all with a modern twist. The fried calamari, for example, has a rosemary batter and will be served with lemon aioli instead of tomato sauce. Pizzas will have foodie-friendly toppings such as speck, robiola cheese and arugula or pecorino and chopped tomatoes.

The restaurant, which will have about 50 seats, is in the former Giuseppe’s, a beloved red sauce joint that had been in the space since 1968. It’s on Saw Mill River Road in the building with Century 21.

Gallante renovated the space, painting the walls a dark orange color called Semolina (really!) and lining them with a dark-wood, rough pine chair rail.

There are wood tables and, as a nod to the restaurant’s former incarnation, frosted glass chandeliers with a hand-painted red stripe. Many of the materials have been recycled and reclaimed.

“Just simple and fresh and Italian,” says Gallante. “Which is what we want to convey through the food as well.”

Other menu items include baked mezzi rigatoni with smoked pancetta and ricotta; orecchiette done in a cacio e pepe-style; cortecce, a bark-shaped pasta, with octopus, Calabria peppers, garlic and breadcrumbs; grilled pork medallions with spicy tomato ragu, zucchini, eggplant and cherry peppers; and slow-roasted short ribs with polenta, caramelized onions and radicchio.

Gallante, a CIA grad who cooked at Pino Luongo, Felidia, Bouley and Cru before becoming executive chef at Ciano, nearly had a Westchester restaurant before this. He was set to be a partner in Arrosto in Port Chester, but the deal fell through. He opened Italian Kitchen by happenstance; it’s near his home in Ardsley, where he lives with his wife, Jennifer, and their three children, a 7-year-old boy and 3 1/2-year-old twins, a boy and a girl. He grew up in Scarsdale, and moved to Dutchess County as a teenager. He lived in the city for 11 years and returned to Westchester with his family in 2006.

“I wasn’t really looking to do anything,” he says. “But one day I was literally driving by, and I was talking to someone about it, and it just kind of happened.”

“It’s been a great learning experience,” he says of the renovations and the pre-opening planning. “I’m making decisions based on things I learned that I thought I’d never use again.”

Gallante says that he’ll be overseeing the restaurant, but Mancebo will be executing the day-to-day operations.

“We’re going to collaborate,” says Gallante. “This is his first step out, a bump in responsibility for him to be the man in charge. But obviously I’m the owner. I’m going to guide him.”

Italian Kitchen will open within two weeks at 698 Saw Mill River Road, Ardsley. Info: 914-693-5400; ik-ny.com.

It sounds like Gallante is basically a partner in the project, but he will oversee the menu and the operations. Chef Paul Mancebo, who worked at Ciano and DB Bistro Moderne, will be running the kitchen. Italian Kitchen will serve “seasonal Italian” fare, including pastas, pizzas, and grilled entrees. It’s slated to open in a few weeks.