* Fiore
image c/o City Search
CUISINE: Italian
ADDRESS: 284 Grand Street., Brooklyn, NY 11211
nr. Roebling Street
PHONE: 718.782.8222
HOURS: Mon-Thu, 5pm-11pm; Fri, 5pm-midnight; Sat, 11am-midnight; Sun, 11am-11pm
CARDS: Cash only
BOOZE: Full bar
AVERAGE ENTREE: $12-$14
MENU: Brunch | Dinner
BRUNCH: Weekends
SUBWAY: L at Bedford Ave.; G, L at Metropolitan Ave.-Lorimer St.
MAP: Click Here
NY MAG SAYS: In no time at all we zoom over the Williamsburg Bridge to the charmingly rustic Fiore, with its spiffy service, flea-market treasures, and enticing Italian home cooking. Warming up over a bottle of Mount Veeder Cabernet, the six of us share the excellent grilled pizzas, all of them: bianca with cheese and prosciutto, a peppery two-cheese pie, and the house's namesake, paved with zucchini and perfumed with truffled Robiola cheese. Then it's on to a runny Burrata, a mound of fried calamaretti and zucchini, and a salad that mixes roasted butternut squash, radicchio, Pecorino, and walnuts--enough to share. When Teodora's chef-owner Giancarlo Quadalti finished restoring this crumbling little building, he realized he didn't want to run a trattoria beneath his own duplex, so he persuaded chef Roberto Aita of Roc to cross the bridge. Now Quadalti stops by for dinner often, joining us tonight for cavatelli with broccoli rabe and sausage, and monkfish with roasted garlic, preserved lemon, and caper sauce. I've tasted three versions of bucatini all'amatriciana in the past week, and this one, just $9, is the best. Twelve dollars for half a giant-size chicken on roasted potatoes gives new strength to the dollar. Next time I'll ask for the herbed fries or roasted potatoes "extra crispy." Of the $4 desserts, I like the polenta cake and a primitive apple torta, but the tiramisu has uptown class. Our penny-pinching pals with a car are already planning an encore, and I'll be joining them.
CITY SEARCH SAYS: As Williamsburg's population switches over from three-to-a-room artists to three-bedroom-owning yuppies, pricier restaurants are bound to follow. However, this rustic Italian trattoria reaches out to both camps: Its black-and-white checkerboard floor, brick walls and thick wood tables look more like the decor you'd find in swanky brownstone Brooklyn, but the unpretentious staff and low prices ensure large crowds of bargain-hunting hipsters. Amidst a sea of old-school, red-sauce joints, the rustic Italian menu hold its own. Appetizers score especially high: creamy tufts of burrata; an endive, frisee and smoked pancetta salad dressed with a tangy shallot mustard dressing; and a heaping portion of lightly fried ribbons of calamari and zucchini. Entrees nearly maintain that standard, especially thin-crust pizza topped with zucchini and fragrant truffled robiola cheese, and flaky salmon bolstered by artichokes, prosciutto and olives. Overly salty lasagna falls short, however, as does a rote lemon tart for dessert.Hits: The consistency is remarkably high, considering the menu's affordable prices.
Misses: The secret is out, meaning longer waits for a table.
VILLAGE VOICE SAYS: "This place is so girly," exclaimed Mary, an East Village artist originally from Ohio, noting the wallpaper printed in a juvenile pattern and the display of serving plates, lunch boxes, and other kitchen paraphernalia on shelves near the ceiling. Also surrounding us were 19th-century prints of pliéing ballerinas, though the rest of the room--which narrows as it goes deeper, culminating in a small garden--sports the kind of nondescript, bare-bricks decor you find in most Williamsburg restaurants.We were sitting at a sturdy table in the front of Fiore ("flower" in Italian), a recent addition to the percolating Grand Street restaurant strip. In common with many modern Italian restaurants trying to please everyone, the expansive menu takes a very long time to read, offering a bewildering number of ways to put a meal together. It includes regional favorites from all over Italy and a bulging wine, cocktail, and beer list. However, the first thing you'll note as you sit waiting to order is that the prices are very reasonable, and the portions passing by are large enough to choke a horse.
Luckily, the food is often excellent. Pastas are the heart of the menu, and most are priced at $9 and totally shareable, especially if you want to get a couple of apps or collaborate on a single secondo. Lasagne Bolognese is the authentic article, a few sheets of wobbly noodle sprawled across the plate, pleasantly mired in a sauce mixing tomato, cheese, and hunks of ground meat, flamed to crustiness under the salamander. Even better are the homemade spinach-and-cheese raviolis, with a wrapper rolled so thin and delicate that it might be mistaken for lingerie. The sauce of butter and fresh sage makes you wish there were lots more of it to sop up with the semolina bread provided.
The egg-yolky penne carbonara and the bucatini amatriciana (from the tiny Laszio town of Amatrice) deserve "very good" ratings, too, though the linguine alle vongole renounces its Italian-American roots by being smothered in too many clams still in their shells. But why complain about such abundance? Treat the top layer as an excellent appetizer of shellfish steamed in garlic and parsley, and then munch the remaining pasta as your second course.
Equal in excellence to the pastas are the appetizers, which are big enough that two make a substantial meal. You can't go wrong with a beet salad ($6) that has been smothered in shaved cheese and hosed with tart vinaigrette. The usual platters of cured meats and cheese are available, but why not head for my favorite thing on the menu? Possibly inspired by a similar squid dish at Babbo, polipetti brasati ($6) are baby octopi braised to within an inch of their tiny lives in a tomato sauce golden with olive oil. Eating the cephalopods is ecstasy, and I genuflect before chef Roberto Aita for taking a big chance by putting this unusual stew on the menu.
Spreading itself (as well as the dough) very thin, the menu offers wood-oven pizzas, of which my fave is the pie that flaunts two cheeses shotgunned with black peppercorns ($10). There's also an expansive list of sides that could stand alone as appetizers, including some amazing French fries flavored with crisp sage leaves. There are no better fries in town. Unfortunately, many of the secondi come with lifeless oven-roasted potatoes, so you may want to cough up the extra $3 and enjoy the fries instead.
Which brings us to the secondi. Though many of the mains have been done in the wood oven, which is good, many are cooked ahead of time and rewarmed, which is not good. Our roasted half chicken ($13) was full of flavor but sadly dry, while an order of baby back ribs on a bed of Sicilian caponata had a reheated taste and sodden texture. Too bad! Accordingly, I'd advise dining mainly on antipasti, primi, and sides.
But the positive aspects of Fiore vastly outweigh its picayune defects. Oenophiles will flock to the restaurant for the wine list, which boasts meritorious obscure bottles at extremely modest mark-ups. Fiore wants you to drink great wine, rather than the overpriced swill that many Italian restaurants pour. A slew of bottles happily falls in the $20 to $30 price range; among them, you'll find a decent Chianti, a good Rosso Conero, and a spectacular Montefalco Rosso that I'd never seen in any wine store--from the Umbrian vineyard Madonna Alta (probably named after the Virgin rather than the Pop Star), this complex and saturated red will set your teeth on edge.
Comments
After two tries for dinner, I've written off Fiore. The menu is cheap Italian, and the food tastes that way. The recipes seem flawed and the ingredients (even the cheese) are lackluster.
That's too bad because I wanted to like Fiore. It's pleasant looking and very spacious for a brooklyn restaurant.
Posted by: Steve | February 8, 2010 10:44 PM
I'd have to say that despite the great prices and very friendly staff, I'd still have to warn people against going here. Or at least comment on some of the dishes, since I can really only speak about what I've had.
The orata with artichokes and pancetta was fairly tasty but the artichokes were not trimmed properly so in every mouthful I had starchy stalk I had to spit out. Not cool. Do your prep work.
My boyfriend had the salsiccia with cannellini - which would have been ok if someone had warned him basically they served it like italian franks and beans. A very un-tasty sausage - one of them on either side of the plate, and a mound of tomato sauced beans in the middle.
The calamaretti and zucchini were fairly nice - but yes, mind the portion size! Two of us had trouble sharing that and another app.
And totally avoid the beef carpaccio. Inferior meat, didn't taste fresh at all.
I'd love to go back and give their pastas a try but it will be hard to go back and give them a chance with so much other good material all around.
Posted by: Maria | June 15, 2009 07:19 PM
Amazing brunch! Fast, great service, really good food. Definitely plan to come back for another brunch and dinner!
Posted by: fingerlickingkitten | November 13, 2008 10:44 PM
the worst service i've had in williamsburg.
went on sunday evening, not full, and the waitstaff was not slammed. our tall waiter, was rude and incompetent. he told us a special and a menu item were totally different. they were exactly the same. and now we had two just-average dishes. never brought us water, or olive oil we asked for. told us we had to order "all at once" rather than add additional dishes to our order. this guy should be fired. will never, NEVER go back there. there are so many better choices in the neighborhood with better food and much better service.
Posted by: kgbklyn | October 4, 2008 08:10 PM
1) You can have Roebling. That place is funkee yo!
2) Kitchens close, even when people are still eating food! But your in the 'industry' so you know that already.
3) Sorry you cut your finger. A whole week!? You should have gone to the hospital, or better yet sue! That'll teach that lousy bar maid!
4) Barmaid? What industry are you in? The oil industry? The insurance industry? Did you call her a barmaid? That may be why she looked at you funny.
Also, I would love to see your massive tip. Meow! I bet It was MASSIVE! I bet Roebling closed for a week and celebrated your massive tip with a big party.
Posted by: nincowpoop | September 24, 2008 01:05 AM
I agree with the food being "good" and well priced. Maybe more business owners should look to Fiore's example and buy the building they are in to cut costs on the food prices so they can compete in a neighborhood that already has many Italian restaurants.
Atmosphere is nice. A bit like a place I'd like to take my Grandma or mother or long time partner for "super".
We actually go often but must state the obvious.
Two complaints:
1: The mirrored deco in the bathroom is actually dangerous. In searching for the light switch I felt along the wall and was stabbed by it. I had a nice little cut for a week. Minor complaint but could they just remove the one above the light switch.
(I told the female Italian Bar maid. She looked like it went in one ear and out the other.)
2. My boyfriend and I were getting off work on a Sun. night. and had diner at Bozu down the St. and I couldn't wait to go to Fiore for the lemon tart and a grappa for desert. It was 11:08. There were plenty of people still working on thier aps and main courses. I asked the same barmaid if we could sit at the bar and have a desert and grappa. She said no because the kitchen wasn't serving. Bull shit. Bad service. I wonder if it was the owner instead of her if he would say the same? I mean shes going to look me in the eye and tell me the kitchen is going home when there are still couples eating in the restaurant? Thats a lie. How long would it have taken us to eat a desert and sip a grappa? 15 min.s max?
Anyway being in the industry, I am totally annoyed by this kind of crap. We were lucky enough to go into Roebling Tea Room where they not only served us a yummy warm apple cobbler after the "kitchen closed", they even gave us our drinks on the house because they were out of the ones we originally asked for. It took us 15 min.s and we left a massive tip. Thanks Roebling and no thank you to the Italian tart.
Posted by: dexter | August 31, 2008 03:13 AM
Loved it, the food and service was real good i took my brother to fiore for his birthday and invited some of my cousins too, they did not have any problems sitting 11 adults and 2 kids, overall it is a very good place to have a an amazing time. Yes i will definitely come back.
Posted by: Joanna | August 7, 2008 05:47 AM
Happened upon Fiore because the brunch wait for Lodge was so long. The food here was better and more reasonably priced. Amazing atmosphere & delicious. Definitely coming back.
Posted by: Kate | August 4, 2008 06:57 PM