I went to this Italian spot with a couple of Mediterranean twists pretty recently with a decently…read moresized group. The place inside was pretty quiet, as there weren't that many diners, and the server we had was friendly and professional. The prices are on the higher end, but it's an Italian spot on the Upper East Side, and they serve seafood primarily, so it's to be expected. To drink, I had a decent negroni from the cocktail menu. It was $20 and was called Unico, named after the amaro of the same name. I don't remember the other details of the ingredients, with the drink having bitter orange flavor along with a bit of sweetness and some light licoricey notes. In short, it was alright. They gave us some warm, decent bread with pretty good olive oil to begin with.
I was in the mood entirely for seafood, so I started with a crudo. Before ordering, while someone else got a glass of wine, I asked what the daily crudo special was. Apparently, it was tuna, presumably sliced from his description, and served with plums, scallion, and olive oil for $24. Instead, I went with the standard Tuna from the menu for the same price, which was cut tartare style and served with stracciatella, pistachio, lime, and parsley oil. The tuna was plentiful, and the meaty tuna worked well with the relatively rich cheese. The pistachios added some crunch, while the lime helped reduce the richness, though I do wish there was a bit more. Others enjoyed the burrata duo, watermelon salad, or arugula salad, though the burrata looked a bit overpriced at $30.
My main dish was the $37 Swordfish alla Mediterranea, consisting of grilled swordfish steak served over tomato and Taggiasche olive sauce, along with some toasted pine nuts. It was a relatively large portion of swordfish, and it was cooked beautifully, being tender and meaty. I liked the sauce as well as the crunch from the pine nuts, and the occasional sour bite from either the cooked-down tomatoes or olives. My only complaint would probably be that there wasn't enough sauce on the bottom, but the fish was good enough that it was almost unneeded. Others enjoyed the rigatoni sausage & peppers, the linguine clams, or the halibut. I didn't try any of them, but apparently, the pasta was delicious, though the portion size was definitely on the smaller end, with most pasta dishes ranging from $25-$30.
Having already spent a good chunk of change on the appetizer and entree, I didn't bother having dessert. Someone enjoyed the Cannoli for $12, which came with three miniature ones, making the price more reasonable. Three others got an order of the $15 Double Chocolate Mousse, which they all seemed to enjoy.
This was a tasty meal. Going to bump up my rating a bit as it's new, but would still get a bit over a 4 if this wasn't the case. Would recommend if you are in the area and looking for fancier fish.