They’re gulping down veal scaloppine and spaghetti with clam sauce over at Lever House. Or rather at Casa Lever, the Midtown edition of the Sant Ambroeus restaurant of uptown, downtown and Southampton fame. Can this be a good thing for the increasingly Italian-driven dining scene?
The answer would be “no” if Casa Lever’s cooking was as plodding as at the owners’ other Manhattan places, which cater to convalescent taste. Instead, Gherardo Guarducci and Dimitri Pauli gambled that not all of the power crowd are interested in underpowered Italian standards.
And while Casa Lever is anything but cutting-edge, it makes a strong case for what it is: a higher-end, well-oiled Fiat of a restaurant amid racier Ferraris and Lamborghinis, even if some customers wouldn’t be caught dead driving less than a Maserati Quattroporte.
At dinner, it hardly belongs to the midprice field: Think $36 for common wild salmon and $36 for a glass of red wine, if you’re foolish enough not to ask first. But lunch is a steal, thanks to a two-course, $37 prix-fixe menu that includes most of the dishes available at night.
If you’re tired of reading about ambitious, big, new Italian eateries, deal with it — they dominate the New York scene as never before. This year, Marea, A Voce, SD26, Locanda Verde and Danny Meyer’s Maialino have already opened, and soon to come are Quattro, Keith McNally’s Pulino Pizzeria, and likely a new joint from Scott Conant.
Suave host Pauli presides over a Casa Lever that doesn’t look particularly Italian. Designer William Georgis kept the step-up side booths of the space’s love-it-or-hate-it predecessor, but warmed up its honeycomb-accented icono-graphy with wood trim, red carpets and Andy Warhol portrait prints.
The once-private rear mezzanine is now part of the dining arena, with cozy tables for two overlooking the scene. A wall that once blocked street views is gone, so that the Milanese-styled front lounge now feels of a piece with the rest of the place.
Lunch-goers such as Anna Wintour, Larry Gagosian and Steven Schwartzman and dinner habitues Ron Perelman, Valentino and Jann Wenner have taken to a menu that reads like the Sant Ambroeus lineup reinforced with crudo and whole fish.
Despite a “northern” thrust, there’s more in common with Boot-roaming Midtown spots like Piano Due, Il Gattopardo and Cellini than with more daring Convivio or Esca; no bone marrow-and-octopus fusilli here.
You almost want more adventure in a mold-breaking office tower that first brought the glass curtain-wall to Manhattan. But smart presentation, attention to detail and uncompromised seasoning mock Sant Ambroeus, where the menu’s full of references to pepper and herbs you can’t always taste.
Most dishes are made with great integrity. Old warhorse vitello tonnato came out of the stable with a new look: a pretty pinwheel of folded, thin veal mounted with whipped tuna, white wine, olive oil and capers.
Saffron risotto made with Carnaroli rice and osso buco ragout was stirred to the sublime, crispy-creamy tension that eludes many kitchens. Shelled Manila clams mixed it up with toothsome Gragnano spaghetti loaded with garlic, red pepper and plum tomatoes. Veal scaloppine arrived thin-pounded, juicy and generously served as a quartet of small medallions.
But nighttime fish and meat prices are batty — $36 for ordinary grilled swordfish with a spoonful of vegetable caponata, and $44 for veal Milanese.
Tabs like those make you lose patience with too-dry, galantina-style chicken. Scrawny salmon was cut from the end of the fish — “We use this for omelets,” a friend who’s a chef sniffed. Under-blanched broccoli rabe was too tough to chew on three occasions.
Desserts rally; our loyalties were with hazelnut-heaven gianduia and moan-inducing warm apple strudel. Let’s just hope Guarducci and Pauli keep the garlic and pepper coming along with the sweets.
scuozzo@nypost.com