I hadn’t come across the term “italo-japanese” until I searched for information on a small restaurant that opened down the street: dieci

I found this TimeOut NY article that mentioned a growing “mutual curiousity” between Italian and Japanese kitchens. This struck me as curious in itself as Basta Pasta has been around since 1990.

Anyway, I’m not here to degrade the efforts of the journalist. Rather, I would like to point out the “italo-japanese” influence in the kitchens of Basta Pasta and Dieci is decidedly copacetic. I won’t go into the details of Basta Pasta’s lovely parmesan/prosciutto pasta (it’s lovely), but I will touch on some highlights of the newly opened Dieci.

• Foie gras + black truffles + crostini was excellent
• Mozarella croquette with tomato sauce was better than advertised: you’d think the combination of ingredients would be more Applebee’s fare, but it was crunchy, tasty, and better still, interesting.
• Black squid risotto: made my teeth and tongue dark and menacing, but was pleasantly salty.
• Chocolate cake with homemade banana gelato: the combination is great, and the gelato was like a smooth frozen banana

Oh, and Dieci is on my block. I hope it’s 25 seats don’t get overwhelmed too quickly.