THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Mangia 101

THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Mangia 101 Restaurant Review:

From the same group that brought up the popular neighborhood spot Food 101 comes this Italian-style take on casual dining. Mangia (meaning Eat! in Italian) 101 presents the kind of Italian food that Steve Buero, one of the three owners, grew up savoring in his native Brooklyn. Linda Harrell has taken over the kitchen, and has instituted a selection of Italian tapas, here called cicchetti, a Venetian tradition. We’ve enjoyed the mussels in a white wine sauce, very tender calamari with tomato sauce, tuna tartare topped with ikura (salmon caviar), and excellent cheeses. Prepared al dente, the house-made pastas are available in appetizer half-portions whose size would suffice as a small entrée for lighter appetites. Dried pastas are excellent, especially the pistachio-Gorgonzola rigatoni. Order a side of very good house-made sausage for just $5 extra. Halibut Genovese is pan-roasted with rosemary potatoes and fagiolini. While it was cooked not quite as gently as had been ordered, it was still moist and wonderfully fresh tasting. Lamb steak drizzled with aged balsamic vinegar is mounded over mashed cauliflower for a flavor kick, and a great dish for low-carb patrons. For dessert, check out the cannoli and especially the mascarpone-ricotta cheesecake. These are made off-premise but to chef’s recipe, and are well worth the calories, especially the cheesecake. The wine list is a mélange largely of interesting, well-priced Italian and Cal-Ital choices, most offered by the glass. A good Rosato would be a welcome addition. Reds tend to be served a mite too warm, but the glassware is good. Nice service.