NYC Eats: BEST Italian Food At Piccola Cucina

New York City, basically an Italian restaurant on every street of the city! From dollar pizza slices to $100 entrees, we really do have it all. Piccola Cuccina may be overlooked. There are multiple locations throughout the city, none of which are big or glamorous, but believe me they cannot be skipped. I am about to make a very bold statement but I think that Piccola Cuccina may have some of the best Italian food. The menu has some of the classics we all look for and interesting and intricate dishes you won’t find anywhere else. I even find myself in a predicament such that I have my eye on so many things on the menu that I would love to try but have really fallen in die-hard love for the few dishes I have already tried. Keep reading to find out what they were.

I basically would consider myself a prosciutto connoisseur and, as expected, this appetizer was excellent. Both the prosciutto and the burrata were so fresh and delicious. Zero complaints. Just simple good ingredients.

This is one of the most phenomenal pasta dishes in New York City. That is a very bold claim, considering how many wonderful Italian restaurants there are, but this dish I think ranks superior to most, because I also find it to be more unique than most. For example, most truffle pastas come with some kind of cream or mushroom sauce. This combination with the wild boar ragout, and such a light tasty tomato sauce, I mean, just wow! The way that those flavors work together is just outstanding.

Another incredible pasta dish, the bucatini cacio e pepe is a winner and by far the best I have tried in New York. The pasta is perfectly al dente and it is so cheesy and delicious; not the very watered-down cheesy type or trying to be too complicated with extra editions. But the thick, really good kind of cheese, with a pungent flavor that speaks on its own. Also, at their Uptown location it was served to me tableside (not the case at the Thompson Street location) but equally as delicious.

I can be admittedly a little picky with cannolis. I like them, but they aren’t something I gravitate to when I see them on the menu, so had they not been complimentary I probably wouldn’t have tried them. Hands down they are also the best cannolis I have had in NYC so far. They are clearly so fresh, creamy and crunchy, with both the cinnamon and pistachio flavors, while not overpowering, definitely shining through.

Piccola Cucina Website