The amazing art at Ristorante Volare on West 4th Street.
About a dozen times in the last year I’ve either called Dell’anima to make a reservation (5 p.m. or 11 p.m. offered) or walked by thinking I could just slip in, only to be disgusted by the pushing, the crowding, and the noise level at that new Italian restaurant I had heard such good things about. (Am I getting old, or impatient, or both?) Of course I want to try it, but when did going out for dinner become a battle? And why do so many hipster restaurants design this into the program? Is it such a sin to want to have a conversation with your dining companion? Man, is it irritating, when all I want is that and a good meal. It makes me nostalgic for the civilized New York Italian places I remember so well from my childhood.
I thought about Volare, a pretty little place on West 4th Street that I last visited about 15 years ago, when my father, husband, and I stopped in not to eat but to get away from the cold and crowds of Washington Square, to have a Sambuca at the cozy bar. And of course the Sambuca came con mosca (“with flies,” which actually means coffee beans, set alight by our black-jacketed bartender). What a nice place. My father was really in his element. And Volare is still there, unlike so many small, family-run places that have gotten swallowed up by the Batali and McNally machines or by some nail salon. I wish all the cozy old places would just stay put, but even when they do there is usually one big problem with them—the food. More often than not, the cooking has gone downhill or just stagnated in Northern or Southern Italian–American misery land. I love many old-time dishes, of both the red and white sauce varieties, but a little sprucing up from time to time is required to keep the old joints going.
I had dinner at Volare the other night and I’m happy to report the food is very good.
The focal point of the small, pretty room at Volare is a series of burlesque-style artworks painted in the 1930s by Cleon Throckmorton, a Broadway set designer (Porgy and Bess, The Threepenny Opera), who lived around the corner on West 3rd Street. They keep these gorgeous paintings in top-notch shape, as they do the rest of the place (it always looks freshly painted). It’s quiet, gentle, and has the kind of warm attentive service that can bring a tear to your eye.
Another Throckmorton masterpiece.
The menu is old-fashioned, but with some excellent surprises. You’ve got your baked clams (which I ordered and found delicious—subtle and tender), insalata di mare, antipasto freddo with salami and such, but they also make trippa alla Romana, which I ordered because I can never resist a steaming plate of tripe. It was excellent, completely tender and rich, with touches of celery and lots of white wine. My husband ordered the insalata Volare, which turned out to be a type of chopped salad with a toss of arugula, cannellini beans, hearts of palms, artichokes, and red onions. This was great, a nice change from the usual flabby insalata mista offered at many places.
The pastas all sounded interesting, and they must be somewhat updated, since I can’t imagine finding pappardelle alla lepre (with rabbit ragù) at any restaurant in the 1950s. My husband ordered that. It was wonderful, although I found the pappardelle almost a little too al dente (usually you have the opposite problem in old-timer places like this).
Many of the people around us ordered steaks and veal chops and osso bucco. I’ve heard from a few regulars that Volare’s steaks and chops are outstanding, and they’re absolutely huge, enough to feed two, or to bring home for another substantial meal. Next time.
I kept looking around the place, admiring the stunning murals and the shiny white lacquered tin ceiling, taking in the couples and little groups of happy people, eating and chatting away. We ordered homemade cannolis for dessert. I was ready to be disappointed. I haven’t been able to find a decent cannoli in this city for some time. Volare’s were perfect, filled to order, crisp, beautiful. Of course I had to order a Sambuca to go with them, in memory of my father, and of course it still came con mosca. Can’t forget the mosca.
What a great place. I hope it stays forever.
Volare
147 West 4th Street (between MacDougal Street and Sixth Avenue)
New York, N.Y.
(212) 777-2849
Erica De Mane 
Harky I loved this review,I could almost feel the comfort of the place.I really want to go,Maybe for Mo’s birdday? Gorgeous pictures of the murals.
Love,Liti
I’d love that.
Erica, I’m loving your blog, I’m going to get a cup of coffee and visit more! I’m so glad you came to mine, Thanks!
Hey Marie,
I’m so glad you like my blog. I’m really going to start focusing exclusively on Southern Italian recipes, reviving some unusual dishes, mostly Sicilian. And I’m trying to improve my photo skills, making them as vibrant as yours are at prouditaliancook.
Best to you,
Erica
Mmmm… Volare. I must have seen it a million times but never went in in all my 27 years in New York. It’s so good to know this kind of place is still around. I don’t eat out often anymore because everything seems like a slick theme restaurant serving product instead of food. Thanks also for the beautiful remberence of your father.
Fill me in, my friend, on what’s happening with that pastry shop across the street from where we took italian classes together. NYC, Bleeker & Broadway, no? Rocco’s, I believe. I really (yet rarely) enjoyed their freshly filled cannolis. Are they still giving up the good stuff ? Other than that, I shudder at the thought of a NYC italian pastry, unless for nostalgia, which I imagine prompts your excellent post.
Baci
Marieta
Hello sweetie Marieta,
Rocco’s is still there. The one next door (I’ve already forgotten the name) closed down a few years ago. My friend Jay tells me that Rocco’s cannolis are still really good (and he’s very picky about Italian pastries). If that’s the case, then that’s possibly the only thing that’s still high quality. Other stuff, like pignoli cookies and ricotta cheese cake are decent, but not stunning by any means. And after living in Paris, you probably wouldn’t be able to stand the smell of the place, with all it’s chemical additives and low grade chocolate.
I used to love their cremalotta, the milky, almond ice they made in house, and only available in the summer. I haven’t tasted that in years. I wonder if they still make it. I must say they have some really scary day-glo cakes in there now.
You know what, I’m gonna go in there and taste a few things for you, possibly those lemon puff, glazed cookies, and all the hard as rock biscotti I used to love, filled with hazelnuts or almonds or covered with sesame seeds. I’ll let you know how they’ve held up.
Please come to town soon so we can eat bad pastry together.
Miss Erica
Alright, d’accord, as you wish, avec plaisir !
But please go easy on the day glo lemon puffed stuff.
Me being you, I’d just taste the freshly filled cannolis if they are still around. Never one to tell anyone to do though ! Anxiously awaiting your report, la bella Erica
I should be passing through NYC in 2 months. Hoping to see you then ! and check out the results Baci Marieta
Hi Erica,
After reading your recent blogs re: pasteries…I’m missing those days of going into our neighborhood pasticceria and waiting in line for a filled to order cannoli.
Unfortunately you are right about the pastries today…and it’s everywhere, not just NYC….
It’s such a shame that you can’t get a good Italian pastry anywhere…
Except in Chicago at Pasticceria Natalina and a teeny tiny shop in Montreal’s Little Italy, Alati-Caserta…when you open the door the fragrance of orange flowers hits you right in the face…and they make this outrageous thing called “The Big Cannoli Platter”…and there is no scraping the grease off the roof of your mouth after eating one of their pastries…
So thanks for your lovely blog and if you should find that St. Agatha’s pastry recipe, I would love to have it as well…
Hi virginia,
Alati-Caserta sounds like a very good place. I’d love to get up there some time. I have relatives in Montreal who own an Italian restaurant, but I’ve never been.
I don’t know why I haven’t been able to find a good recipe for the Saint Agatha pastries. All the ones I’ve located so far have been too simple. I’m not a great baker so I can’t just wing it. A lot of readers have asked about this recipe, so I’ll keep looking. When I find the right thing, I think I’ll just post it.
Thanks for your nice note.
Erica
Hi Erica,
Have been raving about your bread made with old bread, almonds, and orange flower water.
pls post recipe.
Thanks.
Justine
Hi Justine,
So glad you liked the orange cake. I’ll be posting the recipe tonight.
Best,
Erica