Long Island Restaurants

Brivo

On the cusp of the holiday season comes a new reason to celebrate: Brivo.

The new Italian restaurant in the former L'Endroit is refined and creative, defined by chef Peter Petti's elegant Italian cooking -- a star turn for the Garden City native.

L'Endroit veterans will barely recognize the place. The long-lived continental, once a local landmark with heavy curtains and stylized Leandro Velasco paintings, always was very much about the interior, sealing off the outside. Brivo lets in the light in many ways, from windows to sunny hues and blond Venetian plaster.

But everything isn't quite so restrained. Sconces resemble miniature crystal chandeliers. A stylized waterfall plunges at the entrance. The bar, of course, adds television. All of which is to say that the overhaul by owners Rosario and Salvatore Asaro is startlingly complete.

So's the cooking.

Petti's menus are seasonal. Two weeks ago, this former veteran of Lidia Bastianich's Felidia in Manhattan still offered crisp, fried zucchini flowers, filled with buffalo mozzarella, corn and chives; and vivid pappa al pomodoro, a tomato-and-bread soup that extracted the last hint of summer.

Creamy, tangy Humboldt Fog goat cheese anchors a lively salad with beets, grapefruit and watercress. Wild arugula tangles with frisée, toasted pecans and Parmesan cheese for a satisfying alternative. A prettily fashioned, splashy seafood panzanella brings together tender scallops, octopus, shrimp, clams and squid, with toasted bread.

Service at Brivo is attentive, its wine list good. But it excels with pastas. Pappardelle tossed with braised duck in a savory porcini ragu embodies autumn. Porcini-infused linguini weave around trumpet mushrooms and chard. Spaghetti alla chitarra arrives in a spicy tomato sauce enriched with lobster.

Paper-thin crespelle, or housemade crepes, enfold a mixture of spinach and ricotta, finished with a cherry tomato sauce. Tagliatelle Bolognese is classic. Best and most luxurious of all are taglierini in a Parmesan-driven sauce, crowned with shavings of black truffle.

Squid-ink risotto with ricotta and tomato sauce is a beautiful tricolor production, but bland. Delicately pan-seared diver scallops rest on a smoked potato puree, and are capped with bacon strips.

Breaded prawns paired with warm caponata, however, are a bit overcooked; the rosy, panko-crusted yellowfin tuna, nearly carbonized. You're better off with the whole, grilled branzino.

Robiola cheese and porchetta enhance a fine tender veal chop Valdostana. "Lamb two ways" means a mellow combo of braised lamb shoulder and marinated, breaded lamb chops atop creamy polenta and stemmy broccoli rabe. Sliced rib-eye steak with arugula is very juicy.

Grand Marnier and chocolate soufflés are on the dry side. But the delectable dark chocolate cake, tiramisu, pistachio gelato and Italianate blancmange would stand out anywhere.

Brivo: It's very close to bravo.

Reviewed by Peter M. Gianotti, 10/7/07.

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