NEW YORK CORNER
By John Mariani

COSTATA
206 Spring Street (off the Avenue of the Americas)
212-334-3320
costatanyc.com

    Tweaking is as important to a serious restaurant as tuning is to a violin.  So, after opening two years ago, Costata is now a better restaurant for the changes that have been made to the three-story premises, which include better lighting, more colorful artwork and a far more affable service staff.
    Costata is very much in the tradition of the New York Italian Steakhouse, a genre pioneered in 1926 at the first Palm (now undergoing a “major facelift”), whose raffish atmosphere, barebones look, and menu of steaks, lobsters, tomato salad, a few pastas and cheesecake defined the idea, replicated at its nearby competitors Christ Cella, Colombo’s, Pietro’s, Joe & Rose’s and Bruno’s Pen & Pencil.  That template is still in effect on scores of contemporary steakhouses, although these days new entries tend to be far more swank, and Costata falls into that category.
    The new artwork at Costata is by London-based artist Nasser Azam, with sixteen  installations, including large abstract paintings and prints on aluminum and mirror.  Hardwood floors are buffered by softer elements, and it’s good to see double tablecloths and good lighting (though they dim it mid-evening). The music, though unnecessary, is not all that intrusive. 
      The 36-page wine list is exemplary, though pricey: a Trebbiano d'Abruzzo Emidio Pepe 2007 by the glass is $36; a bottle at the store is $65. But the number of older vintages of top labels makes this screed very impressive indeed. 
    Costata is part of chef/restaurateur Michael White’s Altamareagroup empire, which now extends to Marea, Morini Trattoria, Morini Ristorante, Ai Fiori, and The Butterfly, all in New York; Due Mari in New Brunswick, NJ, two Nicoletta pizzerias; Bedford Post Inn in Bedford, NY; Chop Shop in London;  and Al Molo in Hong Kong.  Costata is something of a homecoming for White,  who first established his rep as chef in these same Soho premises when it was Fiamma. 
       The menu is not dissimilar to the majority of the steakhouses in NYC, except that Costata’s pastas are among the very best in the city, as they would be anywhere. Fusilli with a pork shoulder ragù, pomodoro and robiolina cheese ($22) is lusty and rich in every morsel, the pasta impeccably al dente; pansôti are bulked up with ricotta and mascarpone filling, corn purée and red wine-laced sugo ($22); and garganelli alla fiamma, studded with prosciutto and English peas, in a lush truffle cream ($24) is irresistible to the last bite.  
    The menu is shorter than it used to be—-no more American “caviar” and no lamb chops.  For starters White reprises several of his hits from other restaurants, including a selection of crudi like lustrous amberjack dolled up with Calabrian chilies and pickled cauliflower ($19).  A half dozen East Coast oysters served with mignonette and spicy arrabbiata cocktail sauce ($18) were good and briny, and a each species in a fritto misto of calamari, halibut, shrimp, artichokes with Calabrian chili aïoli ($19) was perfectly cooked, crispy and hot.  Beef tartare with sauce gribiche, pecorino, capers and thin croutons ($16) was well seasoned and very good, though the portion was a little smaller than elsewhere in town.
    Among the seafood items, a branzino of very meaty quality with sweet heirloom tomato, charred corn and sopresatta ($35) came together well, but the medium-sized langoustines à la plancha didn’t justify the price of $19 a piece. The way to go here, of course, is with the 40-day dry-aged, 44-ounce costata cut, in the U.S. often called a tomahawk steak ($126 for two, or more, people-—well below the $145 côte de boeuf at Minetta Tavern). We also enjoyed a 15-ounce New York boneless strip ($43).  The black Angus beef was very good, though I’ve had better marbleized steaks in NYC and the char on the outside could be darker on the costata.
    Side dishes are all $9, and sauces are extra at $4 each.
    As with the pastas, Costata’s desserts, by Robert Truitt, are far above any of its competitors’, including a first-rate crème brûlée ($12), mascarpone torta  ($12) and affogato of strong coffee poured over vanilla gelato with a shot of amaretto ($10).  Gelati and sorbetti (three for $9) are also delicious.
     Given his far flung empire, your chances of seeing Michael White on premises are pretty slim, which is understandable but disappointing because he is a very ebullient, spirited fellow who imbues his restaurants with his presence.  Lacking that, Costata has a very affable staff; our waitress, Mary, was terrific on all counts.
    So, while there is no strong personality up front to fill White’s chef’s clogs, this is now a much better, more inviting steakhouse than when it opened in 2013 and a clear evolution of the New York Italian steakhouse. Even if you just had a bowl of pasta here, you’d think it was one of the best Italian spots in town.

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NOTES FROM THE WINE CELLAR

    In this era of the overly familiar, I have always been struck by the reverence with which the name “Mr. Mondavi” is invoked. Over the course of several days in the Napa Valley this past spring, on a trip hosted by the Robert Mondavi Winery and with a focus on their own wines as well as the wholly unique terroir of the Oakville AVA, his name, almost always preceded by a reverential “Mister,” was uttered countless times.
    That deeply felt respect, of course, is understandable, because it is impossible to talk about the history of American wine without mentioning Robert Mondavi (1913-2008) as one of the most important catalysts of this nation’s ascent to become the global wine powerhouse it is today. Indeed, precious few names around the world are as synonymous with a particular country’s wine industry as Mr. Mondavi’s is with our own.
    The downside of Robert Mondavi Winery’s long, successful run is that occasionally, consumers not well-versed in the various bottlings bearing the Mondavi name, find themselves confused, conflating, say, the Mondavi Private Selection Cabernet Sauvignon with Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve. (The difference between the two is difficult to overstate, and while both more than admirably achieve their individual aims, those goals themselves are quite different—the former to be a budget-friendly bottling meant for immediate consumption and the latter a deeply complex expression of vintage and terroir, and often one that benefits from extended time in the cellar as it takes on stunning layers of added complexity; Mr. Mondavi himself spoke of this general concern during his lifetime.)
    Any confusion, however, is immediately clarified as soon as a range of the higher-end RMW bottlings is opened: They remain deeply profound examples of all that Napa can be and is, and beautiful expressions of both the places of origin and the vision of the team behind them. (This has been the case both before and after Constellation Brands acquired The Robert Mondavi Corporation in 2004, leaving the winery without a Mondavi.)
    A good example of this is the most recent release of the Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve, which, in fact, marks an important turning point in the legendary bottling: The 2011 is the first vintage of the Reserve whose label bears the vineyard designation of To-Kalon, as it’s crafted entirely from fruit harvested from there. Indeed, To-Kalon, in the Oakville AVA, resides in the uppermost echelon of American vineyards: Ask a dozen wine professionals to name their top five favorite vineyard sources for Cabernet Sauvignon around the world, and I’d bet that To-Kalon (which appropriately means "highest beauty" or "most beautiful" in ancient Greek) is mentioned far more often than not.
    To-Kalon has always been the primary source for the Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve (as well as for the Robert Mondavi Winery Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon and the famously expressive, deeply complex To-Kalon I-Block Fumé Blanc), but 2011, with its designation on the label, ties RMW and the vineyard even closer among the wine-drinking public. The result is a wine of grace and pleasure, boasting aromas of brambly purple berry fruit, pencil led, cedar, spice, cassis, and a bit of grilled sage. It’s young still but in a fantastic place already, and against the richness of the fruit, there is also a nice sense of minerality and freshness, marking both the quality of the vineyard’s terroir and the nature of the vintage. On the palate, this is velvety in texture, and the purple berry fruit from the nose comes through clearly alongside flavors of graphite, cedar, pencil led, tobacco leaf, coffee, and grilled sage, all interwoven with elegance and just enough power to keep on pushing through to the finish tinged with violets, raspberries, Chinese five-spice, and eucalyptus. It’s a wine of structure and richness in equal measure that will continue to evolve for another 15-plus years.
    Of course, a winery of Mondavi’s size and power sources its fruit from other notable vineyard sites as well, and under the guidance and vision of Director of Winemaking Geneviève Janssens (left), produces notable bottlings from other grape varieties, and in other styles, as well. Among the crop of standout bottles from the winery that I’ve tasted lately are the Napa Valley Chardonnay 2011 with its lemon oil, mushroom, and honey aromatics that lead to a creamy palate zipped through with lime, orange blossom, apricot, and lemongrass; the Napa Valley (Carneros) Pinot Noir 2012, which rises from the glass with cherry cola, rose petal, and sarsaparilla and tastes beguilingly of cherry, red plum, and Middle Eastern spices; the Oakville-sourced Fumé Blanc 2013, with its ambrosial nose of smoky apricots, passionfruit, vanilla pod and mineral and its bright flavors of lemongrass, lime, and white tea; and the Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 (below), a big wine at 15% alcohol that still maintains stellar balance as it speaks of dark-cherry liqueur, flowers, Fig Newtons, black licorice, creme de cassis, charred sage, baker’s chocolate and dried lavender.
     (I also recently had the insanely good fortune to taste the Robert Mondavi Unfiltered Cabernet Sauvignon 1994 from my father’s cellar, which was a gift from our good friend Scot “Zippy” Ziskind of Zipco Wine Cellar Services and My Cellar Wine Storage, and was bowled over by this fully mature beauty, its dried red currants, tobacco leaf, eucalyptus and wild mushroom aromas leading to a palate of porcini dust, licorice root, spice cake and violets. Other older bottlings of RMW’s Cabernets and Reserve Cabernets have been equally delicious: This is a winery that knows how to craft wines that age more than gracefully.)
    Recently, a bust of Robert Mondavi was inaugurated on the iconic grounds of the winery, and I was lucky enough to be on hand this past spring to hear his widow, the indefatigable Margrit Biever Mondavi, who serves as Vice President of Cultural Affairs, speak. The sculpture, by artist Len Urso, is a fitting tribute to a man who changed the face of American wine, and whose namesake wines continue to standout even today, nearly 50 years after he founded the winery. No wonder that honorific “Mister” is used when referring to him. He deserves it more than anyone.