Two Lucky

Good things come in threes

You know you’re eating at an authentic Italian restaurant when the Mafia is slurping down ravioli at the next table.

Tonight, Rusty and I had dinner at Piccolo Angolo, one of our favorite restaurants in the city. Located on the corner of Jane and Hudson Street, this West Village eatery is notorious for being difficult to get in. Restaurant owner Renato Migliorini runs a tight ship. It’s closed on Mondays and doesn’t do delivery. Tip? Go early.

Is it worth it? Three-time Emmy award winning actor James Gandolfini seems to think so. Better known as Tony Soprano on the HBO hit series The Sopranos, Mr G walks into the tiny restaurant just as Rusty and I start tearing away at our antipasti, a delicious medley of Italian meats and cheeses dotted with thinly sliced roasted peppers and sun-dried tomatoes.

The first thing you notice about the New Jersey-born Gandolfini is his stature.

Unlike most Hollywood A-listers, Mr G is a big man. His size may be intimidating, but the smile he puts on for his son, seven-year-old Michael Gandolfini, is disarming. At one point, the ruddy-cheeked younger Gandolfini even sits on his father’s lap as the two discuss sports and his performance in school. They later share a cozy dinner of penne and ravioli, a picture perfectly complementing the restaurant’s trademark familial atmosphere.

When our entrees arrive, Rusty and I tuck in and leave the Gandolfinis alone. When set before you plates of steaming jumbo shrimp in tomato sauce and lobster cannelloni, it’s easy to ignore the Mafia.

Soundtrack

Big Spender, by Shirley Bassey

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 2nd, 2007 at 11:09 pm and is filed under New York. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.