I was excited to try the new restaurant, Mare e Monti Trattoria, on Wall Street as I had loved their previous restaurant.
I started with the Arancini di riso which were 2-3rice balls filled with beef ragu, green peas and a small amount of fontina and parmigiano cheeses which had been lightly breaded and fried served with a fresh marinara sauce. I liked that they were only lightly fried which gave them a good texture but kept me from feeling too full before my main meal came.
For my main meal it was a tough decision as they have an extensive menu ranging from pastas, gnocchi, grilled meats and salads. After hearing that they made their own pappardelle noodles I went with the Pappardelle alla bolognese. What clinched the decision was after telling our waitress that I could not eat cream based items she told me since each meal was made fresh they could accommodate me by making an adjustment in the bolognese sauce since many restaurants make this sauce with cream in it. When the main dish arrived it was piled high with the homemade pappardelle (which are wide pasta noodles) and home made bolognese sauce (which is ground veal, pork and beef) and a small assortment of tiny diced vegetables. I was anxious to dig into the steaming hot pasta dish especially knowing the noodles were homemade. The pasta was excellent and good to the right level of tenderness. I admit I was disappointed in the bolognese as it was a tad too salty. I think since they tried to accommodate me by taking out the cream it left the sauce with too much salt without the cream to balance it out. Overall a good meal and I will go back and try the many other dishes that they have.
