Sauce

Sauce Restaurant Review:

This cheerfully hip space from Frank Prisinzano and Rob DeFlorio, the pair behind Supper, Frank and Lil’ Frankie’s, sits on Allen and Rivington Streets. Sauce opens onto the corner, where outside tables make the restaurant prime territory for Lower East Side people-watching. As for the food: think Southern Italian grandma fare meets New York City of the moment. Meatballs are juicy and succulent. An appetizer of mozzarella di Bufala is milky, no-frills and spot-on, and served with tomato, basil and a shower of spicy olive oil and black sea salt. Sip a refreshing Aperol spritz, a boozy Negroni or a juicy red wine (the wine list is affordable and thoughtful) with pasta, made in-house daily and paired with grass-fed beef Bolognese or “Grandmother’s Tomato Gravy.” A selection of crispy-crusted pizza rotates nightly. Sauce’s signature dish is “The Plank,” a creamy pile of polenta topped with rich beef ragù and a mountain of cheese. It’s ideal for sharing. Broccoli rabe with toasted garlic and green beans cooked in tomato are welcome foils to all the carbs and red meat. End the meal with a fluffy panna cotta drizzled with chocolate.