Monte's Trattoria

My parent's best friends were in from the west coast, so we were going to do a family dinner with them on Friday night. While trying to brainstorm a great place to take them that would represent New York properly, I quickly suggested that we head to one of my family's favorite Italian restaurants... Monte's Trattoria in the heart of Greenwich Village. Monte's has an old school Italian restaurant feel with a wait staff that has been there since my parents started going there many, many years ago.

For the table, we shared their baked artichoke dish as well as their mussels in white wine sauce. There were also a couple of salads going around but Jess & I didn't partake. The baked artichoke was stuffed with a tasty breadcrumb-based mixture, some olive oil, garlic and cheese - delicious but a little oily.

The mussels were very good and the white wine sauce they were soaked in had chunks of garlic and was good enough that my dad & I did a little bread-soaking. There was also some bread-soaking in the remaining juices of the baked artichoke app. We do a lot of bread-soaking in this family.

For our main course, I got the Shrimps Monte's. My dad turned me on to this dish a few years back and every time we go there, we always get the same thing... it's that good! You get 5-7 large shrimp that are breaded with garlic, parsley, olive oil, & goodness. Served with a side of linguine in garlic & oil sauce (you can also get veggies), the perfect bite consists of a fork-full of linguine, a half of a shrimp, and a splash of parmesan cheese. Close your eyes, chew, and enjoy! Love this dish!

Jess got the Chicken Cacciatore, which was also a big hit. The chicken is in pieces (both white and dark meat) in a thick, savory, brown sauce with mushrooms and red peppers. The sauce is definitely bread-dunk-worthy and the chicken was delicious and tender.

It's worth noting that my mother's dish, the Veal Chop Milanese, was melt-in-your-mouth good! If I were to ever veer away from the Shrimps Monte's, it would be for this dish.

For dessert, the table split a canoli, tiramisu, & zabaglione. Depending on what tickles your fancy, everything was good, but nothing was you-have-to-get-this great. Nonetheless, a nice way to satisfy ones sweet tooth.

Looking for a great Italian restaurant with a New York feel in the village? Check out Monte's on MacDougal... hopefully you enjoy it as much as my family does.

For more information: http://www.montestrattorianyc.com/