A Voce Columbus, NYC

We got our copy of the 2012 Grand Award Winners from Wine Spectator on Monday and decided to see if we could get a reservation at one of the new members, A Voce Columbus in NYC the following evening. Opentable.com showed lots of seats - we grabbed a 6pm reservation.

We arrived at the Time Warner Center in Columbus Circle a bit after 5pm wanting to relax and have a drink before dinner. We were one of the first patrons to arrive at the third floor restaurant; grabbing ideal seats at the comfortable, large bar located at the front of the restaurant. I ordered a glass of their 2011 Syrah, Mourvédre, Counoise, Cape Bleue, Jean-Luc Colombo, Provence Rose from the by the glass menu while Alan opted for a cocktail. His was called a Capri - made with Absolut Citron, pineapple juice and other citrus flavors. It was a fantastic drink - one of the best we've ever had - so he had another.

After drinks we made our way to our table...given a lovely corner seat on the window overlooking Columbus Circle with a great views both into Central Park and into the restaurant for the added bonus of people watching. The restaurant steadily filled up over the course of the next hour and a half until all tables were occupied by a mix of young & old, business and social and even the potential daters.

Alan originally picked a bottle of Dolcetto to go with dinner thinking it would be lighter, fruity and easy to sip through the evening as well as pair with the fish & veal courses we were planning on ordering. But plans got sidetracked when the Sommerlier (a nice enough Italian gentleman) came over an offered a suggestion. The bottle he picked out was this 2010 Azienda Agricola Cos, Pithos from Sicilia. It had notes of black olive and pepper that actually overwhelmed the wine and made it not a great stand alone. It did a little better with the food but for two of my courses, wasn't a good match at all to the more delicate flavors.

Talking food now - we ordered two and half courses...appetizers, a shared pasta and then entrees. The menu is a touch on the small side and there were no additional courses offered not listed. For the first round I went with the course everyone online spoke so highly about- the Burratina; a creamy pugliese mozzarella with grilled apricots, watercress and almonds.

I was expecting to be blown away...I love burrata. But this cheese was not sweet and delicate as I was hoping for but a little on the bitter side, bland and requiring salt and it wasn't enhanced by the other ingredients on the plate. Not a great start for me.

Alan on the other hand ordered the signature dish; Pancetta of pork belly, figs, balsamic and pistachios. Presented as a log of happy pig, this course was the highlight of the evening. Perfectly prepared so the meat was pull apart tender and with a meaningful but not overwhelming fat layer to give that balance of succulence and meat. What a great, great dish.

Hoping the shared pasta dish would live up to Alan's appetizer, we were presented with the
Corzetti of hand crafted pasta coins, crab, speck and leeks. It was a pretty dish and smelled welcoming but that's where the happiness ended. The pasta was cooked al dente but something about the thickness of the coins made each bite of pasta seem rubbery and lacking any flavor. There was a visual promise of the crab but couldn't taste that either. This course was a pretty epic fail and so disappointing.

Coming off this lackluster course, my hopes were not high for the main course. I will throw in a few notes about the rest of what was happening around us. Busy, bustling restaurant with a pretty attentive wait staff. They didn't rush us at any point and the flow of the meal was perfect. The ambiance was a bit casual for a restaurant in Time Warner - an example, no table clothes and the chairs looked like the ones around conference rooms all over L'Oreal. While the total look was still relatively welcoming, it wasn't memorable. The view of the park and Columbus Circle were the most interesting things going on.

And onto the final course...our entrees. Alan ordered the Vitello; veal tenderloin, veal sausage,
zucchini, mint and pecorino. I ordered the Ippoglosso which was an olive oil poached halibut, peas and summer truffles.

The veal looked like it was cooked to the optimal level of cooked - lots of happy red on the inside. But there wasn't any flavor behind the pretty face. Just an okay course. And the halibut was flaky and I liked the summer peas but the truffles didn't incorporate well and I just couldn't get through the entire dish. This is very unusual considering it was fish but the oiliness made it seem to make it overly heavy, surprisingly so.

We skipped dessert, finished the wine and called it an evening. This is not somewhere we'd go back for the food but would definitely keep the bar and the cocktails on the list of fun places to kill some time and have some great drinks.

Jenn's Rating: 84
Zagat: 23-23-22
Michelin Rating: One star
Wine Spectator: Grand Award Winner