Salumeria 104, Midtown's newest restaurant contender, is really a candy store for meatheads, offering a little taste of Italy courtesy of Chef Angelo Masarin. This native of Treviso has spent the last few years making the rounds of Miami's best Italian kitchens, including Casa Tua, Sardinia Enoteca and most recently, Cecconi's at the Soho Beach House. The focus here is salumi, which is what the Italians call charcuterie, and the range of cured meat on display will be heartwarming to any resident of this side of the bay (Epicure is just so pricey and far away, and Laurenzo's is just so very far away).
We told you it was coming, and now you can find all the usual suspects from salame studded with tiny circles of fatty goodness to both sweet (di Parma) and salty (San Daniele) prosciutto. Bresaola, mortadella, some seriously silky speck...the meat counter is overflowing. There are even a few more difficult to procure items on hand like guanciale and cotechino (an Italian sausage made from pork and fatback). They will serve it up on a board with some parmesan, pecorino or bufala, or make you a big, fat sandwich to go.
The menu offers a traditional array of Italian favorites, like the sage infused gnocchi romana ($13), fresh tagliatelle pasta with bolognese ($14), and a classic pork Milanese topped with a salad of watercress and diced tomatoes ($18). This is a tight line-up, the selections are limited to 7 pastas, 4 salads, 5 main courses and three sides. In fact, the menu is more strictly edited than the immense by comparison wine list, which is predominately Italian (with only a few French, Spanish and domestic bottles listed). It's an easy to order process for amateurs, grouped by price rather than region. The cheapest starts out at twenty bucks, exactly what an everyday Italian table wine should cost.There are 8 varieties of frizzanti (prosecco), more than the pastas.
And now, on to the food...
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