Uovo. New Restaurant In The East Village Opening June 3rd. 2005

Uovo

In his new windowed restaurant situated on the corner of Ave. B and 11th, Chef Owner Matthew Hamilton is melding classic and contemporary in tasty and innovative ways. Uovo, which means egg in Italian, is both warm and nurturing, and the rustic American fair Matt serves is infused with influences from Italy, and the whole of the Mediterranean. The dishes here are simple, fresh, and thoroughly delicious - like the wonderful gems you might sample at an old eatery you stumble into off a cobblestone street in Europe. Uovo, [175 Avenue B; 212-475-UOVO] is the grandchild of that rustic kitchen, and Matt channels the spirit of traditional Mediterranean village food, but adds inventive and unexpected twists. Using only fresh, locally grown organic ingredients is the standard Matt learned growing up in the countryside upstate New York. He honed his skills of Mediterranean cooking while living and working on a Tuscan Olive oil farm where he planted, harvested, and pressed olive oil, worked the garden and butchered the livestock. These experiences, coupled with his early cooking days at the Famed Zuni cafi in San Francisco and later at the New York foodie favorite Prune, have brought the freshness and delicious quotient to a new level. While the menu shares common elements used in American, French, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese cooking it's the additional influences from the Muslim Mediterranean like Lebanon and Morocco, and items like black cumin, harissa and sumac that bring a fresh, eye opening dish to the table. The goal behind Matt's menu is to create food that is pleasurable, unpretentious, and delectable by treasuring the pure fresh approached he was raised with while incorporating non-traditional ingredients and combinations. The final products are uncommon dishes with beautifully married ingredients.

Although Matt's menu is based on the Mediterranean you will find that his menu language is strickly American. For instance Gorgonzola will be called Italian blue cheese and proscuitto will be call cured leg of pork, chorizo is spicy pork sausage and so on. The bar menu ranges from delicate shrimp crisps with spicy mayonnaise to deep-fried dill pickles. In lieu of a traditional breadbasket, diners will be treated to house-made grilled flatbread served with pressed yougurt for butter. Upon seating, diners will be treated to a complimentary taster, such as salted warm almonds with smoked paprika or house made vinegar potato chips. Appetizers will include braised pork belly with fennel seeds and garlic; tea poached duck liver; and salt cod ravioli in fish broth. Salads and soups include bitter greens with warm anchovy dressing, and roasted garlic and spicy pork sausage soup with fried bread and a poached egg. The main dishes continue with offerings like coffee barbeque beef brisket; suckling pig with citrus honey and cracklings; savory Monkfish and shell bean stew; and guinea hen with garlic, cinnamon and chestnuts.

The dessert menu offers refreshingly simple choices like Cherry Ice; chocolate biscuits with vanilla whipped cream, black tea ice cream, and cardamom cookies served with iced goats milk. In addition, we will offer wide range of beer and our wine selection from different regions around the Mediterranean, are all chosen to complement the menu.