Are you craving some old school "red sauce" Italian like Frank or Supper, but you're all the way down in the LES and they are sooooo far up in the East Village? Well Frank Prisinzano just recently alleviated your conundrum by opening Sauce on the corner of Rivengton and Allen. I stumbled into Sauce (figuratively not literally) while looking for something to eat after hitting an Art Gallery event and a pub on my way to the next bar. When I first saw the menu prices I was kinda wondering at these prices how good could it be(not knowing it's heritage at the time)? Well it was the best Lasagna I've had in a while.
The place looks like it's been around for a while. It has chandeliers hanging from the ceilings and dark red drapes on the windows in the two rooms with long tables for 8 up front and tables to accommodate 2-8 in the back. There is a big V shaped bar with a marble counter top and stools to sit where you can see the open kitchen including the giant(whole hog sized?!?) sauce pots...to of course cook the Sauce. Sauce also has a Butcher Shop counter up front carrying locally sourced meats at fair market prices. Sauce has a fairly large menu with a number of appetisers, salads, pasta's, and specialties. Snout to Tail dishes and of course their Sauce seem to be the main themes here.
To be healthy we started with the Escarole salad a mix of said escarole, Fuji apples, pignoli nuts, mint leaves, ricotta salata and olives. I Love mint and love seeing it more often in dishes, it really works and makes what would be good dishes great in my humble opinion(Please note: this dish has such strong aphrodisiac qualities that even a picture of it may have led to a new romance) After the salad we hit the pasta's. The "Ice Box" Fussuli ($7.95 )is made up of marinara sauce, soft ricotta cheese, pecorino & what really made the dish...oreganata breadcrumbs. Amazing how something so simple can totally take a dish up a notch. For an extra $4.95 get a side order of sausage with lots of fennel. Please note this sausage was not two little links in sauce but for lack of a better description "porn star" sized. The Lasagna alla Bolognese ($7.95) was quite simply great. They use green noodles, lots of "grass-fed" meat, and topped it with parmigiana. What can I say...but the sauce is what makes this dish so delish.
Wash it all down with either fairly priced wine or pints of a well chosen tap beer($5). Portion wise with the exception of the salad the dishes are not giant sized meant to share with the table portions. However, while the entrees don't look that big they are fairly filling. You will not leave hungry, but well satiated so you can continue your evening... with cash (please note:Cash Only) left in your pocket as well...
Sauce is located at 78 Rivengton (on the corner of Allen)
