L’incontro by Rocco — Restaurant in New York

I've heard about Trattoria L'Incontro for years and it's sat gathering dust on my list of restaurants to visit. This is mainly because it's in Queens, and I'm a Brooklyn guy. I have no big impetus to come up here. However, the other weekend I wanted to go have a great meal somewhere new. With Rosario's as a good place to pick up a sandwich for work on Monday, La Guli nearby to pick up dessert after, and the subway a block away, L'Incontro came out on top. The place is a lot larger than I expected. High ceilings, big open dining area, and a lot of tables. Regardless, the place was bustling by 6:30. Some people had special occasions, others didn't, some young, some old; it was a good mix. I grabbed a table right in front, which was good for people watching. I didn't realize it at first, but it reminded me of Italy more so than 9/10 other Italian restaurants--especially those that play up kitchy decor. In the back, the chef, Rocco Sacramone, was not just schmoozing people but making sure that the operation was running well. My waiter, Carlos, was excellent. He was friendly, unpatronizing, and even putting the recitation of the 20 item specials menu aside, he was knowledgeable as well. One of the best waiters I've seen in quite some time, and that's coming from an ex-waiter. That's a lot of good things to list about a restaurant, and luckily for me, the food was even better. For a starter I got the wild game meatballs special, which are ostrich and venison in a sauce with mushrooms and truffle oil. I hadn't had either meat before so it took a little bit to disseminate the different flavors, but I thoroughly enjoyed this dish. The ostrich tastes mostly like beef, with the venison adding a slight gaminess and oily aftertaste. The mushrooms were delicious, as was the sauce which added a earthiness to complemented the meat well. I was a bit disappointed that I only got two balls, but from a pacing perspective it worked. This dish paired well with the Nero D'Avola I got by the glass. For a pasta, I got the much talked about mezzaluna ravioli, which are stuffed with mascarpone and pesto, and come in a brandy and walnut sauce with shaved asparagus. This was an excellent dish! The pasta tasted homemade as it was, and had the perfect amount of bite to it. The filling was rich, creamy and flavorful, and contrasted well with the nutty flavors of the asparagus and sauce. For my main, I got a red snapper special which came in a chickpea puree with spinach and chantarelle mushrooms. The fish was absolutely delicious and cooked perfectly. The sauce was very simple; the chickpea sauce acted as a creamy, salty contrast to the rich flavor of the fish, with the spinach and mushrooms adding in a little variety. I thought the mushrooms could've stood out more, but it was still an excellent dish. I was too full for dessert, but got an espresso and sambuca. It was just like what I'd had in Italy; full of rich flavor. I did not bother using the sambuca on the coffee, as it...

Almost exactly a year ago, in January 2018, we first visited TL, and I reported: Excellent dinner tonight at Trattoria L'Incontro in Astoria - all 4 of us thought that both the food and service were top-notch (and you could say we're a critical crowd). We took the advice from others, and ordered only from the plentiful offerings of specials (not from the menu). Burrata with prosciutto, wild game meatballs, beet salad, scallops, veal palliard, pasta with sausage, branzino with roasted vegetables, cod in pistachio sauce - all really, really good. The wine list was on a tablet (easy for aging eyes to see), very good fresh-baked pita bread with olive/tomato tapanade spread was replenished regularly, and the waitstaff was highly professional - attentive but not obsequious. We lingered a while without being rushed. 9+ on a scale of 10.

This past Tuesday evening, we were a group of 7. Three of us took Uber from and back to L.I. – a good call. Two of the participants were our guests from California (he’s my friend-of-longest-duration: We literally grew up together since birth; she’s his long-time live-in girlfriend). My daughter and my brother and his wife rounded out the company. All are appreciators of fine food, and all enjoyed the repast immensely.

We consumed (essentially all from the spoken specials rather than the written menu), among other things: zucchini blossoms, various salads, tagliarini with porcini mushrooms, raw bar oysters, various pastas such as cacio e pepe and with tiger shrimp and mushrooms, egg ravioli with black mushrooms, venison in a hearty wine sauce, whole branzino, a side dish of broccoli rabe, chocolate cake, chocolate mousse, fig gelato, and a bottle of Italian white (Pio Cesare Cortes) and two bottles of Italian red (Cenciurio Barolo). Our server, Arian, was the consummate professional, the “Radar O’Reilly” (for you MASH fans) of the restaurant industry: He knew what we wanted before we did. He ran our table, and the waitstaff, like clockwork, getting us what we needed before or as it was needed, and allowing us to linger when we wanted to, all with a smile. He truly was one of the finest I’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing (and I’ve dined out a bit). ;^)

I cannot recommend this restaurant highly enough – the food and service are superb, justifying their Michelin star (an enormous accomplishment). The prices are surprisingly gentle for a restaurant of this quality. It’s worth a trip from...

I was very excited about this place because it had great reviews and was always booked. So, I was pumped when I convinced my wife to go at 9pm because that's the only time I could get. We went early at 830 and they were reallly accommodating, sat us right away. It was pretty full, good crowd. Some people may not like the noise but I was okay with it, even got a table with a view of the Yankees playoff game, so I was happy. Wine menu came out on a tablet, so I was impressed. But, no cocktails. I was really hoping for a nice old fashioned because it seemed like the type of place that would make a good one. But okay, whatever. Let's get some wine. I'm not the best at selecting wine but I know what my wife and I like and I'm familiar with the wine / liquor shops in queens since I live here and all the bottles were the $10-20 bottles I see in the liquor stores in the neiborgood - problem is they were 2-4x the price. It's the same everywhere in the city I'm sure but I guess knowing that just kinda ruined it for me. I bought a bottle anyway. The waiter was great though, very attentive. Kept pouring, was great. The waiter also knew everything on and off the menu by heart. So we got the crabcakes that were a special. One crab cake, kind of dry. Then we got burrata and prosciutto. I thought it was pretty good but my wife didn't care for it. I got a veal Portorhouse that the waiter recommended. My wife got a rigatoni with pancetta which sounded amazing. The porterhouse wasn't great, tasted bland and was over cooked. The rigatoni was okay, like B while the porterhouse was a C. That's average but when it costs $45, that should be closer to a NY steakhouse and it was WAY OFF. We didn't try a dessert, just didn't make sense. So, I was okay giving the waiter 20%, wasn't his fault. But the restaurant was way overhyped and overpriced. I think the 4-5 stars are from folks that have grown up going to this place and love it. I get it, and I see people getting treated well and loving the experience. But if I have to be objective about the food and price, it was a total strike out. Disappointing since I was hoping to find something in queens that would mirror some of my favorite neighborhood Italian places in the city. If you haven't grown up going here, and have had Italian meals in NY city, I'd love to hear that I'm way off. It would be in my best interest to have a place like this near me that is ordinarily amazing and well...