Angolo SoHo Is Down On the Corner

Adam Platt heads to the corner of Grand Street and West Broadway to weigh in on Italian new comer Angolo SoHo. He takes a few jabs in a pretty overwhelmingly negative review, but doesn't close without mentioning what works well at the restaurant. Chef Michael Berardino, formerly of dell'anima and Cannibal, is responsible for the "comfortingly generic items" on the menu that are offered in a room whose "tables are outfitted with orange café chairs that look like they’ve been purchased on sale at some Ikea remnant store on the outskirts of Milan."

Berardino's pastas "aren’t as accomplished as those at the grand, multi-star pasta palaces around town, but if you’re looking for a little sustenance while wandering this carb-challenged shopping mecca, you could do worse." Saving graces are 26 wines by the glass and Emilio Bagnoli, "who appears to be Angolo Soho’s owner, or maybe its maître d’ (or maybe both)," with his charming, practiced tango he dances in shoes seemingly borrowed from Sirio Maccioni.

Platt cites "problematic location" and "generic decor" as a few blemishes to Angolo SoHo's perfection, and most of the desserts "won't win any prizes." He gives the restaurant one star out of five in a review that is the first from the critics to investigate the explosion of Italian restaurants to land within a few blocks of one another in SoHo. Still in the cross hairs are Galli, Isola Trattoria e Crudo Bar, and Principessa, all Italian restaurants to open in SoHo within the last six months. Who heads where next?

Italy Takes SoHo By Storm

Before opening Angolo SoHo at 53 Grand Street, chef Michael Berardino familiarized himself with Italy and all things meat during his time at dell'anima and neighboring sister restaurants The Cannibal and Resto. Berardino was replaced by Preston Clark, a Jean Georges vet who has since revamped the menu at Resto.

The menu at Angolo SoHo is true to Italian format: antipasti, primi, secondi, and a handful of contorni. Standby's like fritti misti and spaghetti alla vongole will appease the curious, out of town passersby. Dishes like housemade stracciatella with bottarga and basil seeds and the Sardinian lamb loin with fregola sarda and mint showcase Berardino's knack for Italian ingredients. The piece de resistance may be an 8 week dry aged ribeye for two with bone marrow, radish, arugula, capers, and lemon for $130.

Angolo SoHo is the third Italian restaurant in a five block radius to open in SoHo in the last two months. Galli and Isola Trattoria & Crudo Bar both opened at the beginning of August and added two new Italian options to the neighborhood south of Houston Street. Galli, at 45 Mercer Street, serves Italian comfort food in a rustic, exposed brick room designed by owner Steve Gallo's wife Karen. Many of the dishes come from Steve Gallo's family recipes. Isola Trattoria opened in a 5,000 square foot greenhouse at 9 Crosby Street and serves a fish-heavy menu inspired by southern Italy and the Amalfi Coast. The triumvirate of Italian restaurants would be overkill in any other town but this one.

Galli | 45 Mercer Street

Angolo SoHo | 53 Grand Street

Isola Trattoria & Crudo Bar | 9 Crosby Street