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| - With faux-Tuscan arches accented by whimsical Italian maxims (Due Piedi Non Possono Stare In Una Scarpa--"Two Feet Can't Fit In One Shoe") and fanciful chandeliers, The casino-side Grotto doesn't promise anything remarkable. So it's all the more impressive to discover it offers many common dishes uncommonly well done.
We got off to a good start with soft Italian bread with garlicked olive oil...Calimari Toto promises that you're getting all the octopus--authentically Italian--fresh but flavorful pieces of the tentacles and head, in a light egg batter that makes it hard to stop eating... meatballs come two near-baseballs to an order, a thin crust protecting the piping hot, almost pate-soft inside (which they claim is all flavorful beef chuck, though you'll suspect more tender veal). The Italian Chopped salad balances proscuitto, bacon, egg, with Gorgonzola and provolone cheeses with iceberg lettuce so deftly that the thin-sliced grilled chicken breast on top seems unncessary.
Chicken and seafood are clearly the strengths here (though they also make their own fresh pastas)...particularly the Roasted Herb chicken, a half-bird rotisseried with rosemary over white oak and nothing less than tender, savory perfection.
But the pizzas deserve equal attention, especially considering how few and far between are good pies found in the city. Grotto's hand-tossed rustic rounds, cooked in a wood burning stove in the middle of the dining room, taste just like you'd expect from a street café in Napoli...but maybe a bit better. Our margherita, hitting the table in a cloud of aroma, didn't have a chance of survival.
The garlicky sweet marinara sauce that accompanies many dishes is the kind of recipe you could easily crave, fresh, simple yet deceptively complete.
A small wine list offers a baker's dozen reds and ten whites by the glass, including their own robust chianti-esque Rock N Roll blend, totally acceptable.
Beware that huge dessert cart--it will call you, with the signature featherlight wedding cake, dense and deadly chocolate mezza notte, respectable tiramisu, and certainly not least of all, a solid New York cheesecake with strawberry cream, impressively authentic.
Lunch diners get a voyeuristic view of action at The Tank pool deck, and a limited selection of their most popular items, augmented by some creative panini, and an old school "Nugget" salad.
I think they have good deals on the pizzas during happy hour.
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