Manhattan’s Upper East Side has never lacked for good Italian restaurants, with a long legacy of excellence exemplified in the past by Parioli Romanissimo, Il Monello, Il Nido, Coco Pazzo, Sandro’s and others. One of the mainstays has been Paola’s, which dates back more than three decades, now in its present location in Carnegie Hill for the past seven, under the ownership of Fabrizio di Mitri and Armand Alicka. So it’s a good place to know about if you’re visiting the Guggenheim or Metropolitan Museum of Art.
It’s a smart but comfortable dining room, rather loud until 8:30 o’clock but fine after that. The patterned ceilings are timbered, the floors black-and-white tiles, the chairs bentwood, the tables uncovered but with mats, with a mirror on one wall that expands the space a cross from the bar.
For an antipasto a plate of Italian meats, cheese and honey serves a table of four.
John Mariani
Paola’s clientele is very local and very devoted, and the place draws a good number of New York- and foreign based celebrities that has included Scarlett Johanssen, Robert DeNiro and Paul McCartney.
The wine is 200 labels strong, with a cellar—and a very lovely cellar it is for private dining—holding about 3,000 bottles. Prices have fair-minded mark-ups, with most whites under $100.
Like so many trattorias these days, Paola’s serves pizzas––11 of them––done in the soft-crust Neapolitan style––ranging from $26 to $34.
Paglia e fieno is a dish of white and green spaghetti with mushrooms and peas.
Paola’s
I shared an antipasto misto with a friend, but it would certainly serve more, composed of a selection of Italian sausages, prosciutto, cheese, olives, truffle, honey and nuts. Supplì di granchio are crabcakes with a creamy red pepper sauce.
A lusty dish of pappardelle with wild boar ragu.
John Mariani
There are eight housemade pastas on the menu and I was able to try four, in smaller portions, every one cooked to the perfect firmness, beginning with a rich version of cacio e pepe made with tonnarelli, and pasta once fashionable but rarely made anymore––paglia e fieno, which means “straw and hay,” referring to its two colors of tagliolini, one white, the other spinach green, done in a light cream sauce with mushrooms. The tagliatelle alla bolognese was a classic mix of beef and pork and not too much tomato, while the heartiest was wide pappardelle with a wild boar ragù. As main courses these run from $30-$48.
A massive grilled veal chop with cherry tomatoes.
Paola’s Osteria
There are no surprises among the entrees, from chicken with lemon and very good mashed potatoes to saltimbocca alla romana, and a massive veal chop, either gilled or flattened, alla milanese.
Expertly cooked and de-boned, drizzled with golden olive oil, was a branzino with spring’s string beans and purple potatoes. Scallopine of veal alla Marsalawas a dated dish in an all-purpose brown sauce that had little flavor of the Marsala and only white mushrooms.
Housemade cannoli filled with pastry cream,
Paola’s Osteria
For dessert they serve homemade cannoli along with the usual tiramisù, though you may opt for a Nutella lavished pizza. They also offer six different artisanal gelatos
There is a good deal to be said for the tried-and-true when the emphasis is on the true, which Paola’s does very well for guests who expect their favorite dishes to be on the menu and always taste the way they like it. As Aristotle once noted, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is a habit.” For 26 years at Paola’s. Chef Nelson Guaman has certainly mastered that habit to a turn.
PAOLA’S OSTERIA
1246 Madison Avenue
212-923-5820
For three decades Paola’s Osteria has been a fixture on the upper east side serving pan-Italian fare.
Paola’s Osteria
Paola’s Osteria is open for lunch and dinner daily.
Dining and Cooking