RETURNING TO CITI FIELD
THIS WINTER
theworldsfare.nyc
Come Back to Sorrento Via Whitestone at Concettina
BY JOE DISTEFANO
As the Culinary King of Queens, I’m so
very fortunate to live in the most diverse
and delicious destination in all of New York
City. Really I’m not royalty though, I’m
an ambassador, and a hungry one at that.
Today, a cuisine that some say I’ve forsaken
for various Asian specialties—Italian— and
not the red sauce, family style stuff of my
youth, but real deal Southern Italian cuisine
like Mama makes in Naples.
The mama in question is one Concetta Cadolini,
mother of chef Alberto Cadolini, who opened Concettina
in an otherwise unremarkable Whitestone
strip mall in July 2018. Located between a personal
trainer and a dry cleaner lies a passage to Sorrento
and its seafood-centric cuisine.
“In Naples we have some of the best seafood,”
Cadolini says pointing out that he strives to create
the flavors of his hometown here in Queens. “I buy
the best possible clams,” he says. These he pairs with
a premium dry pasta, Rummo, in the linguine alle
vongole machiate. It ain’t your Uncle Tony’s linguine
with clam sauce though. Al dente pasta, cherry tomatoes,
and clams combine for the most subtle delicious
version of the dish I’ve had in Queens. The flavor of
garlic is there, but there’s nary a clove in sight. “You’re
not supposed to have chunks of burned garlic in your
food” Cadolini says. “That’s not how we cook in Italy,
that’s an Americanized way.”
Cadolini says his mother appreciates his cooking
and loves eating at her namesake restaurant when
she comes to visit from Sorrento. “She loves when I
cook here because I cook like she does, but she loves
seafood so usually asks me to make clams.”
“I use my mom’s name because I believe that
most of the things I do is thanks to my mom. most of
the recipes I use are hers,” the passionate chef says.
Another seafood specialty is the tagliatelle con
moscardini affogati, which translates to drowned
baby octopus. The name comes from the fact that
the tiny cephalopods are cooked in their own juices
The tiramisu is top-notch but even better is the tronchetto al cioccolato.
Fresh pasta specials include a delicate
oxtail ravioli in butter leek sauce.
for 45 minutes along with white wine. The result is a
fresh pasta dish whose chili heat and in your face marine
flavor momentarily call to mind pasta puttanesca.
On the day I dined there was a fresh pasta special
of ethereal oxtail ravioli in butter leek sauce.
There’s even a fresh pasta—cavatelli rabe
e salsiccia—that was lauded by one of Queens
favorite culinary sons, Rocco Dispirito on the Food
Network Show, “The Best Thing I Ever Ate.” I agree
with Rocco.
Dispirito also featured recipes from Mama Cadolini
in his 2009 book “Now Eat This Italian!: Favorite
Dishes from the Real Mamas of Italy—All Under 350
Calories.” One of them peperoni ripieni—red peppers
stuffed with eggplant, fontina cheese, and broken
pasta—is a frequent special at Concettina. When the
whole lot is baked in the oven, the pasta cooks in the
juices from the pepper and eggplant absorbing all of
those flavors to create one truly special stuffed pepper.
“Original recipes that are passed down through the
generations are the best recipes,” Cadolini says of his
mother’s peppers.
Among the secondi find such favorites as veal
saltimbocca, and in keeping with the family’s Amalfi
coast roots, a pan-seared branzino. That Mediterrnean
sea bass is also often available al cartoccio,
baked in a foil packet with zucchini, carrots, cherry
tomatoes, garlic, parsley, and white wine. When it
comes to the main event you would do well to look to
the specials. I thoroughly enjoyed veal liver with balsamic
sauce. I’m can’t wait to return and try the massive
veal chop, served either parmigiana or topped
with arugula. Cadolini is quick to point out that what
sets his chop apart is the fact he crushes bread sticks,
some of which he leaves chunky for texture.
“Not many people understand what I’m trying
to do,” Cadolini says of Queens diners who are often
enamored with family style red sauce joints. “There
are some people that do understand and know and
they really appreciate and that’s what I build my
customer base on.”
For dessert there’s a lovely a tiramisu, but I can’t
stop thinking about the tronchetto al cioccolato. It
consists of a thin layer of dark chocolate cake topped
chocolate mousse and crowned with a layer of
coffee-flavored whipped cream, the whole lot strewn
with candied almonds and chocolate shavings. Good
thing there’s a personal fitness trainer nearby.
160-24 Willets Point Blvd., Whitestone
This ain’t your Uncle Tony’s linguine with clam sauce. (718) 281-4210
TIMESLEDGER,QNS.COM BT OCT. 4-10, 2019 31
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