Centro Vinoteca

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The dominant stylistic motif at Centro Vinoteca is a sleek, fashion-conscious black-and-white. The brick walls (and the terrazzo) have all been washed a bright, Mediterranean white. The tabletops are black and so are the chairs, and the low ceilings are adorned, here and there, with the kind of moon-shaped mother-of-pearl mobiles you see in fashion shoots dating from the sixties. If you show up for your table at 8:30 on a Friday evening, you will find the diminutive rooms filled with a boisterous and largely female clientele. The menu is an almost textbook compilation of currently trendy Italian dining styles—small plates, or “piccolini”; an eclectic selection of wines from the “enoteca” wine bar; and rustic pastas salted with an assortment of fatty pork products. As is the fashion these days, the little piccolini dishes patter down on the table in endless waves. The antipasti are heftier and more carefully executed (try the good, rusticated pizza with layers of spicy sausage, stracchino cheese, and arugula). But the real reason for visiting Centro Vinoteca is the pastas. The ravioli (filled with ricotta and mascarpone) are a model of that temperamental genre, and so are the gnocchi, which are crisped around the edges, sunk in a richly chunky classic Bolognese, and dusted with frizzled onions. — Adam Platt

For peace and quiet, visit at lunchtime, when chef Burrell serves a good organic angus burger and paninis made with fresh meats and cheeses.

Eggplant fritters, grilled pizzetta, crispy gnocchi with Bolognese, lamb shank, tarallucci cookies.

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