Gnocco Fritto and Pasta at Rezdôra // New York City

Rezdôra is a Michelin-starred spot in NYC with a head chef originally from Modena, Italy. The menu is a showcase of the traditional cuisine of the Emilia-Romagna region, featuring homemade pasta and slow-cooked sauces made with the freshest and highest-quality ingredients. From the moment we landed in NYC almost two years ago, this place has been high on my list.

Ambience

Let’s start with the ambience. The moment you walk in, you’re instantly transported to a trattoria deep in the heart of the Italian countryside. The flavors hit you, and the moody music and lighting prepare you for an intimate dining experience. I love places like this in NYC — places that take you to someplace before you’ve even taken a seat.

Even the restrooms were unique as they taught Italian lessons as their audio, which added to the overall experience.

The seats are tight, and we were on the early side for the lunch wave. As we ate, the dining room got more full, and it got harder for our waiters to get to our table. I think the heart of dinner here might be a bit chaotic.

Wine

From the beginning, the waiter was very knowledgeable and patient. After we ordered, he recommended two wines to go with our specific order (the first and second of the red wines listed). He informed us that the first would be acidic and the second earthy. He let us taste both and we found his descriptions to be spot on — the first was too acidic, and the second one was more full and closer to what we wanted. He also split a glass of wine into two wine glasses for us. Proper good service.

Appetizer

For our appetizer, we ordered Rezdôra’s signature gnocco fritto, a traditional Italian fried bread that is commonly found in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. It can be eaten on its own or as an accompaniment to other dishes, such as cured meats and cheeses. In our case, it was served with prosciutto di parma (24 months), mortadella, and capocollo.

Beautifully light and airy, it was delicious and well-balanced, though it left M wanting cheese (this may also have been because there was a burrata appetizer we didn’t order and he LOVES burrata). Of the three meats, we both liked the prosciutto the most. We did see others order just the meats, so that may also be an option for you.

Pastas

The most famous dishes at Rezdôra are probably their uovo raviolo di nino bergese, or their Grandma walking through forest in Emilia. The second dish isn’t available at lunch, which is when we went, but has been seen all over social media as a very green on green pasta dish.

We ordered the uovo raviolo di nino bergese, which is a singular raviolo, and when you cut into it, runs this bright orange egg yolk. It is served on a spinach puree base, and topped with morels and black truffles. Unfortunately, it was a little too salty and cheesy for me (even M thought it was a little too salty, which is saying a lot), but still fun and quite a surprise. The flavors were delicious, but because the edges were double-layered, they were extra al dente, which added texture but felt extra under-done. Also be prepared, as this is a $35 raviolo (a larger, singular ravioli). 15/20 (more points for novelty)

At this point, I should probably clarify that we have had a LOT of Italian pasta. We’ve spent over a month in Italy, eating pasta at many of the top spots, and we’ve also made our own pastas from scratch (gnocchi, pappardelle, tagliatelle, etc). We know very well what al dente means and what it should taste like, and all of the pastas here tasted like they had been cooked for 2 min instead of 2 min 30 sec, then tossed into the sauce expecting that to cook it that extra little bit, but it didn’t. So when you come here, be prepared for pasta that is chewier than what I would categorize as proper al dente.

But back to the dishes. The second pasta we ordered was the gramigna giallo e verde (spaghettoni with slow braised sausage ragu “in bianco”). The ragu in this dish was quite generous, and I liked the flavors in this even more than that of the uovo ravioli (which is saying a lot because I love truffle), but again, the dish was too salty and too al dente. 17/20

M is a big cacio e pepe fan, so our last pasta was the “modenese vacationing in rome,” tagliatelle with parmigiano, pancetta, “uovo” (“egg”) & black pepper. The Cacio e Pepe had a touch too much pepper and was swirled in a way that meant the outside got cold faster than the inside. This came with very little pancetta and lacked the pancetta punch we hope for in a cacio e pepe. 14/20

Dessert

Unfortunately, we were both stuffed by the end of the meal and didn’t have room for dessert. None of the desserts really spoke to us, either, although the “torta d’oliva” (olive oil cake), and the gelati (specifically pistachio and stracciatella) are supposed to be top-notch.

Service

The service at Rezdôra was excellent. So good, in fact, that after the waiter took our order and served us our wine, I guessed they had a star (I had forgotten) and looked them up in the Michelin guide to find that they, in deed, had one star. They swapped utensils and wiped down the table after every course. It’s the details that matter.

Final Thoughts

At the end of the meal, M pointed out that they hadn’t served bread, which is such a quintessential part of the Italian dining experience. And I had to agree — a place of this caliber should serve bread with whipped butter (ideally butters plural). It’s also on the pricey side, for anyone not accustomed to NYC prices. The bill came out to $131.75 before tip for 1 glass of wine, 1 appetizer, and 3 pastas. Again, not bad for a Michelin one star in NYC, but a lot for what the ingredients actually cost.

If you’re looking for an alternative similar spot, I’d recommend da Toscano, where the food was a caliber above, and the ambience more chic.

To conclude, we’d say food was 15/20, ambience was 15/20, service was 19/20, and value for money was 14/20.