Popular Act, Now Solo, Sings Italian

DURING his six years at Café Boulud, the chef Andrew Carmellini achieved something remarkable. Although the restaurant bore the last name of one of New York's most celebrated culinary figures, Daniel Boulud, and Mr. Carmellini was technically his on-site surrogate, its many fans came to see it as Mr. Carmellini's place. They gave him the credit, along with their trust.



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It was just a matter of time before the right financial backers beckoned and Mr. Carmellini struck out on his own. The only real question was what shape that venture would take.

Would it be French and somewhat fussy? Mr. Carmellini had as much of that as of anything else in his background. Before Café Boulud, he worked at Lespinasse and Le Cirque.

Would it strain for invention and strut for attention? Still in his early 30's, Mr. Carmellini was young enough to dream showy dreams and old enough, in the context of the restaurant business, to want to make his boldest mark sooner rather than later.

But his solo debut, A Voce, which means "word of mouth" and is generating plenty of it, doesn't fit either of those descriptions. It's Italian, a nod to Mr. Carmellini's ancestry. Many of its dishes have a rustic bent — they're as likely to arrive in terra cotta bowls or copper pots as on preciously shaped plates.

And most of them are intended above all else to make you happy, which they do — very happy. Mr. Carmellini cares more about robust flavors than about clever conceits. In that way A Voce really isn't such a departure from Café Boulud. The idiom has changed, but not the sensibility, not the premium on sating diners as opposed to wowing them.

Not the fondness for duck, either. Duck doesn't get as much play in Italian cooking as in French, but Mr. Carmellini isn't about to let a good bird go unplucked, and so he finds several terrific uses for it. In addition to glazing duck meat for a relatively conventional entree, he grinds it and mixes it with foie gras and pork to make unforgettable meatballs, which are listed at the bottom of the appetizers but rank at the very top.

He turns again to duck for his richest pasta dish, an absolute knockout. He braises the leg meat and then folds it, along with some egg and Parmesan, into the center of agnolotti. He covers the agnolotti with a creamy foie gras sauce and then, over that, in dozens of impossibly narrow stripes, layers a glaze made with vin cotto and balsamic and red wine vinegars. The sweetness and slight acidity of the glaze are classic foils for the liver, and they work precisely the magic they're meant to.

Mr. Carmellini and A Voce are just as deft at, and put even more stock in, less traditionally luxurious, simpler pleasures. Apart from the duck meatballs, the appetizers I sampled were more or less plainspoken affairs: salads that underscored the season; thinly sliced wisps of prosciutto with pickled vegetables; gorgeous asparagus decorated with first-rate Parmesan, bits of truffle and a fried egg; imported sheep's milk ricotta whipped into a state of sublime creaminess and seasoned with nothing more than salt, pepper, thyme and olive oil.

Beyond the duck agnolotti, most of the pasta dishes didn't boast unusually fancy pedigrees. The glories of house-made pappardelle were the impeccable consistency of the lamb Bolognese, neither clumpy nor runny, that topped the noodles and the deployment of that terrific ricotta in the right measure, so that it asserted itself without taking command.

Mr. Carmellini's appetite for heartiness is hitched to an almost unerring sense of proportion. A spaghetti dish advertised with deceptive succinctness — the menu said only "local ramps, American speck, Parmesan" — turned out to be a vaguely creamy, slightly eggy riff on a carbonara. But it was a relatively guiltless carbonara at that, a light shawl, not a leaden cloak. The ramps further cut its richness, and their presence reflected a commitment to seasonal ingredients that defines the entire menu.

The selection of entrees — or more precisely, their prices — contained a few puzzling surprises. I'd argue that a restaurant serving chicken cacciatore for $23 and putting it in one of those clay bowls shouldn't be doing a $110 rack of veal for two. On the menu I saw a figure of $55, didn't examine it closely and, until the bill arrived, didn't realize it was per person. All in all, the pricing of dishes — some strikingly reasonable, some much less so — didn't add up.

And the setting doesn't really go with the food. Mr. Carmellini and his partners made a laudable decision not do the obvious and indulge in rustic shtick. But when you look at A Voce's green leather tabletops, swiveling Eames chairs and cold contemporary art, including towers of what look like Lincoln logs bathed in orange light, you may well conclude they traveled much too far in the opposite direction.

The comfort of those broad, deep chairs is potent consolation. An expansive covered patio, expected to open soon, will provide a less stylized — and, crucially, less noisy — option for seating.

And then, of course, there's Mr. Carmellini's cooking. If April Robinson's fittingly straightforward desserts (bombolini, chocolate amaretti cake) are a bit of a letdown, it's because she has such a tough act to follow. It's because of his fantastic gnocchi, the size and texture of miniature marshmallows, in a sauce of spring peas with crunchy bits of pancetta.

It's because of his rigatoni, tossed not just with broccoli rabe and pecorino but also with pale, tender balls of ground pork loin, shoulder and pancetta. It's because of his beautifully steamed black bass, surrounded in its copper pot by fava beans, English peas and Manila clams, their open shells containing an additional treat: meatballs made with shrimp.

For his inevitable next venture, maybe Mr. Carmellini, now 35, should consider an all-meatball restaurant. I wouldn't put it past him. And I wouldn't want to miss it.

A Voce

***

41 Madison Avenue (entrance on 26th Street); (212) 545-8555.

ATMOSPHERE A stylized contemporary dining room with leather tabletops and swivel chairs contradicts often simple, hearty Italian cooking. Expansive outdoor seating to come soon.

SOUND LEVEL Loud.

RECOMMENDED DISHES Sheep's milk ricotta; duck meatballs; asparagus with truffle and egg; gnocchi; pappardelle with lamb Bolognese; duck agnolotti; black bass; chicken cacciatore; almond granita; citrus coppa.

WINE LIST International and impressive in its breadth and diversity, with an emphasis on Italy and many options, especially among whites, under $50.

PRICE RANGE Lunch appetizers and salads, $8 to $16. Pasta dishes and entrees, $19 to $27. Dinner appetizers, $8 to $17. Pasta dishes and entrees, $19 to $55. Desserts, $8 to $11.

HOURS Dinner from 5:30 to 11 p.m. nightly. Lunch from 11:45 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Brunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.

RESERVATIONS For prime dinner times, call at least two weeks ahead.

CREDIT CARDS All major cards.

WHEELCHAIR ACCESS Entrance and dining room, with accessible restrooms, on one level.

WHAT THE STARS MEAN:
(None) Poor to satisfactory
* Good
** Very good
*** Excellent
**** Extraordinary
Ratings reflect the reviewer's reaction to food ambience and service, with price taken into consideration. Menu listings and prices are subject to change.