Meaning “here we are” in English, Ci Siamo is one of these discoveries that make you wonder why you did not hear about this place before. I was looking for an Italian place to go on our anniversary and simply searched for the best Italian restaurant in New York, when this name appeared. There, Chef Hilary Sterling serves fresh pasta and dishes cooked in a wood fire oven. In fact they have two of those: one when you enter and one in the back of the dining room. I admit that, looking at the front, I thought this was a small place. Located on the second floor, we decided to take the stairs instead of the elevator, not knowing that, inside the elevator were some glasses and a bottle of Chianti so you could get a sip on the ride up. As we arrived and passed the bar, I was surprised to see how big this was. Empty when we arrived for lunch, it filled up very quickly.

There are two dishes we kept seeing going around and that they are known for: the gnocco fritto ($16) and the caramelized onion torta ($27). Gnocco frito has nothing to do with gnocchi and is in fact a traditional puff-styled fried bread from the Emilia-Romana region in northern Italy. They look large like puffed up ravioli. The exterior was thin, deliciously crispy, with some goat Gouda in the bottom that added a slightly creamy texture. It is the kind of dish you would order again and again. The caramelized onion torta was amazing as well: rich, creamy, sweet and savory, the crust was made with pecorino cheese, and topped with caramelized onions that had a balsamic finish for some slight acidity, and then some pecorino toscano, a sheep's milk cheese from the Tuscany region. This was already filling and I wondered at that point if we made a mistake ordering the cast iron focaccia ($18). But no, it was worth trying, although I wished it had some char from being cooked in the oven. Still, this was a delicious focaccia, a bit greasy on the outside, and soft and chewy inside, served with a fantastic tomato conserva, a tomato paste served with olive oil and chili. These were just the appetizers and we decided to share one pasta as it is homemade. We went for the tagliatelle with tomato and buffalo butter ($25). The pasta was delicious, perfectly cooked, smothered in a nice tomato sauce with bits of tomato skin. I just wished we had parmesan or any other Italian cheese with it (I love grana padano with pasta). For drinks, I got a negroni ($20) that was well made.

Of course we could not miss dessert and decided to order their lemon torta ($18) that was like a deconstructed lemon tart, the meringue being served as a toasted blob with olive oil in the center, on the side and not on top of the tart. The tart itself was really good: creamy and with a sharp citrusy flavor that was well balanced by the meringue and, surprisingly, the olive oil.

Overall, we had a memorable lunch at Ci Siamo and that made us want to go back to try some more food there. As I mentioned previously, I never heard of this place before, as if people wanted to keep it a secret…

Enjoy (I did)!

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Ci Siamo - 440 W 33rd St Ste 100, New York, NY 10001

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