Spring means seasonal menus full of favas and fresh peas, asparagus and berries. At Americano, our breezy pseudo-Roman outpost downtown, a trio of spring menu dishes include all of these, but if I had to choose one, it would be the pasta dish with peas, nectarines, and bergamot orange.
Soft robiola, a three-milk cheese (cow/goat/sheep) from Italy that’s a little pungent and utterly wonderful, comes in the in-house-made pasta parcels of agnolotti, a handful of which loll in a sauce that is merely a veil of garlic and butter. As for garnish, I admire the way slivers of nectarines bring out the fresh peas’ sweetness, while the bergamot loops back to pick up the stone fruit’s tartness. Baby greens round out the dish. It’s a smart, satisfying, spring fling.
End, if you wish, with one of three new desserts, a warm ricotta pound cake, griddled and shot through with lemon. A strawberry-rhubarb compote deluges the slice, which comes topped with house-made strawberry gelato and the crunch of candied almonds.
Spring is here. Enjoy!
