Buon Ricordo

Few restaurants are more exuberantly Italian than this perennially popular Neapolitan outpost. Armando Percuoco is truly il padrone, an eagle eye watching through the kitchen window, dashing onto the floor to serve his regulars, and their offspring in their own right. Everyone is special and treated accordingly. The decor is opulent and service, from loyal staff, superb. Performance reigns as truffled egg is tossed through fettuccine at the table. A crudo of ocean trout is refreshing with lemon, tarragon and garlic, though the promised bottarga was subliminal. Figs wrapped in prosciutto baked with gorgonzola are rich and luscious, still the best around. A rabbit ballotine is stuffed with spinach, chicken and rosemary with a chestnut mushroom sauce, each taste and texture clear; and spinach, nutmeg and parmesan ooze appealingly from crumbed veal rolls. Nougat semifreddo sits on a sea of pistachio cream, studded with candied fruit. Buon Ricordo certainly stands the test of time.