Da Silvano is fairly well known in New York as a great celeb spotting place in the spring/summer time. They have a fairly large outdoor patio on a main drag in the West Village and I've heard that Rihanna and others frequent this place but sadly, there were no famous people on the night we were there.
The vibe and staff are very old school Italian - the decor is a simple classic decor and the waiters are mostly older gentlemen. They even bring out the fresh fish and langoustines to your table like they do in Europe. As you would expect the menu here is more on the traditional side and it's very extensive with a whole separate specials menu that's as long as the actual menu. We started with fried zucchini blossoms stuffed with cheese and fresh mozzarella with local Jersey tomatoes for the table. Richelle, April and Jenn all got the lobster gnocchi which sounded amazing but I ended up going for the steak tartare ($24.50) because it was one of the few places where I've seen it listed as an entree and not an appetizer. The appetizers were pretty standard fare - it's hard to go wrong with fried anything stuffed with cheese but the mozzarella was a bit of a let down as it wasn't as creamy or moist as other really outstanding fresh mozz dishes I've had before in the past.
I was excited for my main entree because it was a really hot day and I was looking forward to eating something that was a bit lighter in fare. The size of the steak tartare did not disappoint - it was indeed a full sized meal with a ton of tartare and served with some thin slices of toast, fries and a side salad. It was a simple dish as steak tartare should be - no fuss no muss just cut up pieces of raw beef, onions and other seasonings. I was disappointed that there wasn't a raw egg with it nor was there any horseradish to it, which is generally how I love my steak tartare. However, the texture of the dish was spot on and I felt pretty full by the end of the meal but not in a gross overheated way. I guess I'm just super harsh on how I review my steak tartare dishes as I am with any runny egg dish which is why I am giving this place a sub 4 fork rating. I had a bit of the girl's gnocchi and if I were reviewing on just that dish, this review may have gotten a 4 fork or higher review. It was a wonderful potato gnocchi with actual chunks of fresh lobster in a mild tomato cream sauce. They were pillow-y and not too heavy - it did made me regret a little bit that I didn't order it or at least get a pasta dish.
We left room for a bit of dessert and got the bongo bongo ($10.50) which are beignets filled with vanilla ice cream and sprinkled with chocolate fudge on top. It was a nice way to end the meal as it wasn't too heavy or rich and it was just 1 beignet for each of us. It wasn't a mind blowing dessert and I kind of felt like it was a bit of a waste of calories. I guess if I was going to have a 1,500 calorie meal, I would have gone with a tiramisu. Where we did blow our calorie count was on wine. They had a fairly decent wine line-up and we took full advantage of it but be prepared as it isn't really a cheap list.
Overall, I'm glad I can finally say I came here, although I was sad to not have even a B-list celeb sighting. I can see that they try hard to keep it old school here although it's not quite really as sophisticated or authentic as some other places I've been in in the city or Italy. Total bill: $120/pp with tax, tip and wine
Photo Credit: Yelp
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