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Quartino has two levels of dining with refurbished subway tiles, wood, glass and lots of warm light.
Hank Vaughn
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Invoking delis of days gone by, a case with salumi, cheese and spuntini sits at the back of the space.
Hank Vaughn
Quartino is also a wine bar with several varieties of light, medium and full reds and whites available in quarter-, half- and one-liter servings as well as by the bottle. We visited recently for lunch and opted for a grapefruitcello martini, which swaps out limoncello for house-made grapefruitcello along with Absolut ruby red, fresh squeezed grapefruit juice and Aperol liquor. Light and refreshing.
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White bean garlic dip: Tuscan cannellini beans, garlic and roasted filone (a sort of sourdough bread).
Hank Vaughn
There are also several varieties of cured meat and a salumeria-tasting plate that includes two salumi and two cheese choices as well as an assortment of olives. We wanted to try the duck prosciutto but, alas, it was not available that day.
Next, we ordered a margherita pizza, a 12-inch thin pie that more closely resembled a cheese pizza with shredded basil on top rather than the more traditional version. Still, it had a good chew/crisp ratio with a cheesy topping and the right amount of spice.
For our mains, we went with a couple of pasta dishes. Quartino offers both made-in-house pasta and imported varieties. All are meant to be shared (each table has an ample supply of plates to use throughout the meal), and all are affordably priced at just under $15. But what we really love is that you can ask for half-orders of all of them, so we were able to sample two different house-made pastas: the tagliatelle alla Bolognese and the pappardelle al sugo di manzo. Both were wonderfully fresh and cooked al dente as well as being perfectly portioned for sharing. The pappardelle was especially good; the wide pasta ribbons were covered in a braised beef sauce that was rich and complex enough to evoke memories of my nonna.
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A half-order of pappardelle di manzo with perfectly cooked ribbons of pasta in a braised beef sauce.
Hank Vaughn
For dessert, we chose the torta al cioccolato, a take on a chocolate lava cake: a still-warm chocolate creation served in a ramekin topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, dusted with powdered sugar and filled with a rich, warm chocolate sauce. Again, it was just enough.
Quartino is still in the phase between soft opening and officially announced grand opening. The friendly staff, affordable and fresh pasta, decent wine list and warm and inviting dining space make this a no-brainer for those in or near The Colony.
Quartino, 5754 Grandscape Blvd., No. 200, The Colony. Sunday – Wednesday, 11 a.m. – 11 p.m.; Friday – Saturday, 11 a.m. – midnight.