Acqua

After a combo 1/2 marathon and St. Patty's Day celebration on Sunday, we decided we needed to soak up all our green beer with some Italian food and headed to the closest place we could find, Acqua.  Acqua stands out as a nicer restaurant in the middle of the more sparsely populated South Street Seaport area.  We started by ordering a margheria and a bufalina pizza to share but I would have skipped those had I realized the enormity of the pasta dishes that were on their way.

We decided to do family style versions of the orecchiette (with sausage, tomato, and broccoli rabe) and spinach gnocchi (with safron, fontina, and speck). Since family style isn't exactly on the menu, the waitress said she would prepare each dish as 3 orders to feed our table of six.  What came out was much bigger than that and try as we might, we were unable to finish.  They nailed the sauce on the gnocchi - one of the few times somebody says a touch of cream and actually means it.  Sausage and broccoli rabe are a pretty typical pair, especially with orecchiette and with just enough of each in this version, traditional is welcomed.

Before this weekend, if you had asked me to name a single restaurant near the South Street Seaport, I would have come up blank.  Now, I can happily tell you to walk yourself over the cobblestone streets to Acqua for some quality Italian.