Spadaro Brings Italian Home Cooking to Central Avenue

Diners who patronize Spadaro in New Rochelle will be pleased to learn they have opened a new restaurant right here in Scarsdale. The Spadaro's know how to cook – and in New Rochelle everyone was treated like family. There were no menus and the meal was served family style. Plates and plates of delicious food emerged from the kitchen- all good – but in quantities that were difficult to manage.

The new Spadaro Ristorante has opened at 753 Central Park Avenue in the space formerly occupied by Za Za. The décor has been stripped down – leaving the bar and a large pizza oven. There's plenty of room for small and large tables and the atmosphere is lively but not too loud.

We visited on the weekend before Thanksgiving and the place was hopping. When I learned they had only been open for a few weeks I feared service would be slow or haphazard – but our waitress was on her toes and ready to help.

We started with wine – the restaurant offers the usual by the glass as well as special selections by the bottle. On the blackboard that night were Amarone, Brunello, Chianti, Montelpuciano and more. While we considered the extensive menu and the specials we munched on toasted tranches of Italian bread doused in olive oil with garlic. Yum.

The menu includes a tempting array of appetizers, pizzas and calzone– made in the brick oven, ten pasta choices, salads, soups and meat, fish and chicken entrees. How to choose? We shared a mozzarella caprese - with a hearty portion of fresh cheese and delectable cherry tomatoes. We also ordered the zucchini in carrozza – a special that night. It was irresistible.

For dinner I had a hearty-sized plate of Rigatoni "Norcina" with sausage and more cherry tomatoes. The sauce was delicious and at $15.95 it was enough for the four of us. For his entrée, my husband chose an item from the menu – Maree Monti, which is papperdelle with shrimp, asparagus, parmesan and smoked mozzarella – another good option. There's plenty for those who don't eat meat including Pasta Alla Nino, Bucatini (hollow spaghetti) with mozzarella, eggplant, capers, black olives and red peppers. Pictured here it was flavorful and abundant. One of us ate more sensibly and chose the grilled Branzino which was grilled whole and deboned.

The meal was satisfying and reasonable priced – and there were many more dishes I would have liked to try. As we were taking our last few bites a charming magician appeared at our table. David Ferst or Magic Dave as he is called, was clever and amusing, peppering his banter with references to the 60's about Soupy Sales, S&S Green Stamps and 45 records. With amazing dexterity he stumped us with his card tricks and used his skills as a mentalist to correctly guess many personal facts about the people in our party.

Between the drinks the food and the magic it was a successful night at a reasonable price. Try Spadaro in Scarsdale before you can't get in.

Spadaro Ristorante
753 Central Park Avenue
Scarsdale, NY 1058
(914) 723-0100