Last night I got together with the Lehigh girls for dinner at Vento on Hudson street in New York City. It’s on the edge of the meat-packing district which began a bit of a renaissance a few years ago. We started with the most inexpensive bottle of prosecco they had on the list (at $45), while we waited for our last two stragglers and ordered some small plates (aka appetizers), calamari, mozzarella in carozza, prosciutto e melone and marinated baby artichokes. All were good.

Next, once everyone arrived, three of us decided to order pasta (Chiatarra Pappalina – homemade spaghetti with chicken, peas, mushrooms, garlic and oil, and Tagliolino – which was their version of shrimp fra diavolo). The pastas ring in at an incredibly reasonable $14 each (but be warned these aren’t American yabba dabba doo portions but more akin to the appropriate Italian portions). Both pastas were homemade and plates were cleaned. The other four, ordered three pizzas (at $12 each) sharing a funghi, a Siciliano, and a Caprese – all looked good and only two slices survived.
For dessert, we shared some zeppole (worth an order), the Panini (marshmallow, nutello, and vanilla sauce, pressed into a sandwich – think an Italian s’more), and a rather forgettable Tortino (the Panini was the clear winner of the night). Oh, and I had the salted caramel gelato, which was amazing.

This, with coffees cappuccini, a second bottle of prosecco, and a vodka on the rocks for Larry (our honorary “Lehigh Girl”), came in at a little over $50 per person. Definitely reasonable for the city.

Can’t comment as to the decor of the restaurant though as we snagged a table outside, which was absolutely perfect! No one wanted to get up to leave.

Sorry – no pictures.