Cugini


1048 Old Country Rd.
Plainview, NY
516-931-3910

Cugini Pizzeria and Restaurant's owners, from left, Marco Franzella, Tony Franzella and Giuseppe Franzella, with some of their delicacies(Newsday Photo/Thomas A. Ferrara)
I was caught off guard by the dining room of Cugini in Plainview. Having walked through a perfectly ordinary pizzeria, down a short corridor, I arrived at what looked to be a seemingly unrelated establishment. Walls, glazed a dark crimson, were hung with crackle-surfaced oils of cedar trees that seemed at once primitive and contemporary. A soft glow emanated from oversized lamp shades suspended above. The room was dark, elegant, sexy.

In contrast, the menu of familiar standbys held few surprises. But if the repertoire didn't approach the sophistication of the ambience, it didn't aim to. Almost everything I ate turned out to be highly satisfying, prepared with much care.

The first clue to a clued-in kitchen came in the form of warm house-made rolls and rosemary-scented focaccia. My $7.50 bargain-priced lunch turned out to be a mixed deal consisting of a very good individual "grandma" pizza topped with fresh mozzarella, basil, tomatoes and lots of garlic served with a woefully pedestrian side salad. Instead of bothering with those greens, I plundered from my friend's vibrant arugula, orange and shaved fennel salad. Here was a dish more suited to the room.

At a subsequent dinner, I set aside what I thought to be my better judgment and ordered a hot antipasto combination. Instead of the indistinct blob of bread crumbs, sauce, mushrooms and seafood found at too many Italian restaurants, a carefully composed platter was set before us. Baked clams tasted of the sea; they were judiciously topped, rather than swamped, with bread crumbs. Shrimp oreganata was well-spiced, lightly grilled, succulent. Eggplant rollatini, a savory melt, tasted distinctly like eggplant, not an amorphous mush. I even warmed up to the stuffed mushrooms, never a favorite. And it was all I could do not to overload on the fried zucchini -- greaseless little batons done up hot and crunchy. In addition, four of us shared a fresh and lemony seafood salad -- shrimp, calamari, scungilli, mussels and clams -- a combination designed for warm weather dining.

It's not often that my husband is satisfied with the chicken scarpariello he invariably orders, but Cugini's rendition -- done with peppers, mushrooms and sausage and ordered boneless -- was on target, the garlic and rosemary-enhanced sauce lightly glazing the meat and vegetables. Chicken Sorrentino -- boneless breasts topped with prosciutto, eggplant and mozzarella in a white wine sauce -- turned out less weighty and more flavorsome than I'd imagined. I wished, though, that it had been I, not my friend, who had ordered the shrimp francaise, which was citrusy without being acidic. Not that there was anything wrong with my spaghetti and fine-textured meatballs.

Cugini imports their desserts from the Italian company Bindi, a familiar name on the restaurant circuit. I liked the crunchy, frothy hazelnut mousse and found the chocolate caramel pyramid surprisingly sophisticated -- a good match for the decor.

Reviewed by Joan Reminick, 8/26/05.

Hours: Lunch, Monday to Friday, 11 to 4 p.m.; dinner, Monday to Thursday, 4 to 10 p.m., Friday, 4 p.m. to midnight, and Saturday, 11 a.m. to midnight; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Assessment

Surprises and reassurances.

Cuisine

Italian

Price Range

Inexpensive (Under $15), Moderate ($15-$25)

Wheelchair Access

Fully accessible