A Voce

41 Madison Avenue
(212) 545-8555

The week before I took Jason to A Voce for his belated birthday meal, Time Out published the results of their Eat Out Awards 2007, in which this upscale Italian eatery was named New Restaurant of the Year. "I only take you to the best places," I told Jason, and he did not remind me that he's the one who picked it out in the first place. That's the kind of guy he is.

We were seated at a table for two near the bar. The space was large and sported a sleek, dark, modern design that didn't strike me as particularly coherent or remarkable. The tables were close enough together that the waitstaff had to pull each one out to let the booth-sitters in and that other people could easily view and chat with you about what you've ordered. My first impression of the service, sadly, was affected by a repellent maitre d'/manager type who, on seating a couple next to us, asked me to move my "duffel bag" (he was referring to my messenger bag, which travels everywhere with me on workdays and which was on the floor by my feet) so that "the lady" could sit. His clipped, bitchy tone — and the suggestion that the guest he was trying to accommodate deserved to be called a lady whereas frumpy, reptilian, messenger-bag-carrying me did not — made me feel about two inches tall for a few minutes. But luckily, this person did not intervene in our dining experience for the rest of the evening, so I was free to get over myself and enjoy the delicious food.

We started with a fried artichoke appetizer and the duck meatballs. Now, just about every reviewer and commenter says that these meatballs are to die for, and I can tell you that they are not kidding. They are seriously yum. For entrees, I ordered a gnocchi dish with ground lamb and Jason got a tasty rabbit dish. The portions weren't overwhelming, so we had room for dessert; I got the gelati (one of the flavors was salted caramel — sweet and salty Jesus, that's good stuff) and Jason got an olive oil cake, which was much tastier than it may sound to those uninitiated to the land of olive oil desserts (the olive oil gelato at Otto was my introduction). They put a candle in Jason's dessert on account of his birthday (reader, those special request forms in the Open Table reservation form really work!), which fully restored my opinion of the service.

In short, dinner at A Voce did not change my life, but the food was quite tasty. And no snobby maitre d' who's clearly having his man period can change that.

Read more about A Voce:

Official Web site
Citysearch
Menupages
New York Magazine
Time Out New York
Yelp