A girls night out brought me to Serafina Always for the first time. There are numerous locations around the city but I had never had the occasion to go before. But now it was my time and I was going out with two ladies who I adore for some much needed quality time. A delicious meal was just going to be an added bonus.
When we sat down I did very little, scratch that. I actually did none of the ordering or deciding on what we ate at this meal. I loved having someone who had been before order a bunch of stuff we three could share without the concern I would have chosen something better.
We started with a food group that is always a crowd pleaser for me, pizza. It was the Tartufo Nero, a focaccia bread pizza made with robiola cheese, fontina, truffle cheese, truffle oil and black truffle. What I liked best about this was that the truffle oil wasn't too rich which can often be the case with truffle oil and like ingredients. The robiola cheese was a creamy, soft cheese that was cooked on the pizza to perfection. The thin slices made it possible to have a slice or in my case two, with room remaining for my entree.
Next we had the Arugula E Parmigiano which is a salad comprised of baby arugula lettuce, cherry tomatoes, shaved parmigiano, with a fig vinaigrette. It was light and flavorful but I didn’t have much of it. I wasn't really in the mood for salad as I had some earlier that day as part of my lunch.
The entree was the Tagliolini Di "Cortina" Al Pollo, a pasta containing chopped chicken breast, peas, and mushrooms with a light cream based sauce. This might have even been better than the pizza, which I can’t believe I am saying. The sauce is what made this a must have dish for me. The light sauce dazzled the simple ingredients allowing you to taste and savor each individual one with every bite.
Since we three had shared everything we ordered there was room for a final bit of glory, desert. We went with a traditional dessert, La Torta di Ricotta, which is Italian style cheese cake made with imported ricotta cheese. This was a staple growing up in my family and I have always loved it. This version had a unique creamy, moist quality and was really incredibly delicious. There aren’t many that I have had from a restaurant that can rival Serafina’s.
The Zagat review read as follows:
“Consistent and satisfying, these Italians provide a wide-ranging menu of crispy thin-crust pizzas and reliable if nothing special pastas and salads; the comfortable digs are kid-friendly and accommodating to groups — other reasons they’re handy for an easy eat out.”
The only thing better than the food and the company I had that evening is the story I learned about Serafina Always’ beginning. Legend is that the owners Vittorio Assaf and Fabio Granato dreamt up this restaurant while lost at sea!!
As a way of dealing with the trauma of being stranded, battered, and hungry they talked about their favorite foods and ideal restaurant they would create if given the chance. Needless to say they happily survived and opened their very first Serafina Always in 1995. It seems that their dream was written in the stars all along.
God would I love too sit down with those men, share a bottle of wine, and hear the details of that trip. I could not find any further info online which only makes me wonder about it all the more. I doubt it is a lie, because who would do that, but no matter the circumstances the story behind their vision seems to have worked out well for them both.
So now that you are sufficiently convinced this is a meal you should have I will tell you the many places you can make a reservation.
There are currently eleven Serafina Always in NYC alone, plus an additional one located in the Hamptons. Their domestic locations can also be found in Massachusetts, L.A., and Puerto Rico.
Their presence has expanded internationally to Brazil, Japan, South Korea, India, Dubai, and Turkey, with plans to expand to Cuba, further into Asia as well as the Middle East.
With all of these choices there is no need for your destination to become a limitation.
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For your consideration.
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