Every week, I document another dish that impressed and satiated me during my food adventures around New York City
SADLY, BERGEN HILL IS NOW CLOSED.
More and more people these days are going gluten-free. Whether it’s for a true sensitivity to wheat or because it’s the trendy thing to do, restaurants are realizing they have to start offering more options. Bergen Hill is certainly not catering to that audience, but they do make an amazing pasta that is entirely made out of fish.
Seriously, if gluten-less pasta was always as good as the calamari tagliatelle I tasted, I might never step foot inside an Italian restaurant again. The other dishes we tried at this seafood small plates neighborhood spot were all nicely composed with my one complaint being the portions are small for the price. If I could get an entree-size of the squid, however, I might not need anything else.
You actually believe you are eating al dente pasta as you experience the pleasant chew of the squid strips. The other components certainly help emulate a dish somebody’s Nonna might create. A garlic rich pomodoro sauce is the base, along with some capers, a bright gremolata, and a touch of lardo. And, of course, the flavor of squid fully comes through.
Bergen Hill is not on the list of trendy, healthy places for all sorts of dietary restrictions. It is a seafood restaurant through and through. In fact, the gremolata is made with breadcrumbs (which they could probably leave off), but if they figured out a way of boxing up this pasta, I bet celiacs everywhere would rejoice.
| BERGEN HILL |
| 387 Court Street (at 1st Place), Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn (718) 858-5483 |
| bergenhill.com |
