I’ve just started reading Bill Buford’s book Heat about a foodie/amateur cook’s experiences learning the art of Italian cooking principally through a stint under Mario Batali at Babbo. Fascinating read so far as it really gives an interesting look at the Molto Mario we don’t get to see on tv. Apparently the real Mario parties like a rock star and always has. I’m only half way through the book so far, but it has already given me a different perspective on Italian food, a cuisine I used to consider completely uninteresting. So it was quite a nifty coincidence that I got a call from my fish distributor friend Dan tonight asking if I cared to join him and his girlfriend for dinner at Zuppa, a restaurant in Yonkers run by David DiBari who had previously trained under Mario.

Yonkers is a blue collar area, downright slummy in parts, which is undergoing a positive transformation not unlike many other parts of Westchester. The crown jewel to date has been the recent opening of Peter Kelly’s restaurant X2O, right on the waterfront. I’ve yet to eat there since reservations are still apparently very difficult to come by, but Zuppa was a good start in my exploration of the revitalized Yonkers dining scene.

We walked in past a beautiful, spacious and elegant bar area into an equally classy dining room with high ceilings, adorned with warm brownish red colors and large abstract paintings on the walls. It was a handsome yet comfortable dining room, totally making me forget I was in the middle of Yonkers. But as lovely as the room was, I was there for the food, and it did not disappoint. For my app, I ordered the lump crab meat salad which was a generous portion of lump crab meat combined with bits of grapefruit and grilled asparagus, topped with ultra thin slices of house-made beef bresaola and surrounded by three delicate spots of grapefruit foam. A black pepper olive oil was drizzled around the plate as well. The bresaola was pleasant and mild but seemed slightly out of place. The foam was magnificent, deeply flavored and with more mouth feel than expected which I later learned was made possible by the addition of gelatin. The crab and grapefruit combination actually worked quite nicely, offering just the right amount of acidity and that touch of sweetness you wouldn’t get from the classic addition of lemon juice. The pepper oil around the edge was absolutely superb in flavor, but also seemed a little out of place. But overall, it was a nicely executed dish with beautiful individual flavors.

Compliments of the house we were served a lovely little salad of slightly bitter greans mixed with ricotta, thin slices of a gently spicy red pepper, three fried “croutons”, a delicate agrodolce dressing and some more of that wondrous pepper oil drizzled across the plate. The “croutons” were something I had never had before, apparently called panissa, which tasted rich and buttery with a texture like something between mashed potatoes and polenta. Lighter than potatoes, but finer than polenta. Whatever it was, it was delicious. What really struck me about the dish was the incredible finesse of seasoning. Everything went together so seamlessy. You had the slight bitterness of the greens with the mild mellowness of the ricotta, the subtle touch of heat from the peppers, and the restrained sweet and sour effect of the agrodolce. It was amazing that such delicate flavors could come together with a balance and harmony like that. Outstanding.

Carol had the barbecued octopus which were finger-sized tentacle pieces all cut to equal length, lightly smokey and charred with a hint of sweetness, served along with diced pieces of grilled watermelon. A very cutesy take on bbq with watermelon but even though it may sound a bit gimmicky, it was seriously good eating.

For my entree I had the skirt steak with lobster surf and turf. This I found a little disappointing. The two little lumps of lobster meat were perfectly cooked so there were no complaints there, but the skirt steak seemed a little pedestrian. It was a perfect medium rare, but was lacking in flavor as was the mound of broccoli rabe mounded underneath. Certainly a good dish anywhere else, but I had been impressed up until that point so I expected more. Probably my own fault for not ordering something a little more seasonally appropriate.

But Zuppa did show that they can do seasonally inappropriate things to good effect, by serving us a complimentary shot of chocolate cardamom soup before we received our check. Absolutely fantastic with a deep chocolatey warmth, which even though it was mid summer, still evoked that warm fuzzy feeling you get from a nice mug of hot chocolate in the winter. All told, it was a very impressive meal and in Yonkers of all places. Chef DiBari is clearly talented and I will make it a point to return for a full tasting menu sometime soon.