THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Il Matto

THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Il Matto Restaurant Review:

Il Matto may translate as the “lunatic” or the “mad man,” but one’s sanity does not need to be challenged to eat at this TriBeCa restaurant. It just calls for a suspension of disbelief. The insanity in question begins with the cocktail list---a brandy and ricotta cheese cocktail, anyone?---and continues with the menu. Start off with the satisfying pecorino crème brûlée or the braised pork belly, accompanied by a cacophony of ingredients (head-on shrimp, raspberry, black olive honey and chickpea purée). Meaty dishes aren’t any more orthodox, and choosing can feel like just blindly guessing, especially when you see pork filet paired with a Parmigiano fondue and saffron pappardelle with bone marrow sabayon. Dishes are whimsically presented like little gifts. In the end, the kitchen manages to pull off these edible circus acts well enough. One thing is for sure: this isn’t your grandfather’s (or even your father’s) Italian restaurant.