Carnevino menu great for appetite, bad for budget

I can remember - and it truly wasn't that long ago ­- complaining because steak prices in upscale beef palaces were in the $30s. And then they were in the $40s. And then the $50s. And, well, I have no idea where the limit is, the distinct possibility of the sky notwithstanding, because last week at Carnevino we paid $61 for a 16-ounce bone-in New York strip.

It was the second-least-expensive steak on the menu.

Now, I'm not sure which to address first, the $61 or the 16 ounces. Yes, it was bone-in, but the bone didn't weigh 12 ounces; this was still a lot of meat. And therein lies a problem.

Carnevino, being a restaurant operated by Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich, has a number of pasta dishes on the menu, very reasonably priced. Our waiter had cautioned that the pasta dishes were small portions, giving us the idea that they were meant to be starters. When two of us ordered pasta as our entrees, he repeated the caution.

And guess what? They were quite adequate as entrees, especially if one is, like we were, having or at least sharing an appetizer and/or dessert, and especially considering the bread the size of my hand (not that I'm complaining) that's deposited on each bread plate. One of these portions of pasta and a 16-ounce steak? No wonder there's an obesity problem in this country.

But back to the pasta. Garganelli Bolognese ($21) was very nice, the hand-rolled, raggedy-edged (that's a good thing) tubes particularly al dente, even more appealing because of their de facto uneven thickness. The sauce was a classic Bolognese, beef and pork and tomato and herbs reduced to a level so pure it was almost an essence.

Gnocchi with walnut-herb pesto ($19) was another triumph, the little potato pillows neither gummy nor overly airy, the pesto tempered somewhat by cream.

And back to the bread: Our large rolls/mini loaves were served with a crocklet of sweet unsweetened butter and one of speck, cured pork fat with salt and rosemary. The latter (which came with assurances from the runner that it actually is more healthful than butter) was lovely, tinged with smoke and an even more faint hint of pork.

Cippolini onions ($9) served as a side were simple but not conventional, the sweet little orbs cloaked with a syrupy balsamic reduction. Another side, of roasted beets ($9), somehow transcended their very nature, in part because of deft roasting, in part because of the blue-cheese crumbles and bits of pistachio that graced them.

Speaking of simplicity, that aptly defined the starter of prosciutto ($25), so thinly cut we could just about see through it (again, that's a good thing) and served with slices of fresh pear, the perfect complement.

We knew we would want to try one of the locally sourced desserts by pastry chef Doug Taylor, a leader of the local slow food/locavore movement. His Gilcrease Pumpkin Cake ($10) with pumpkin shavings was a tour de force, with various textures and levels of flavor.

And back to that steak: Yes, it was excellent. To their credit, Batali and Bastianich don't claim that their beef is Prime (which tends to make me suspect, since only 1 percent of beef is graded Prime in this country, yet an awful lot seems to show up on local menus). Actually, the menu says their beef program produces a quality that surpasses Prime, and I'm not about to quibble.

Looking at the conventioneers flooding into the place, I was, for a change, not thinking about expense accounts, most of which clearly can accommodate $61 steaks. No, I was thinking more about the 16-ounce steaks plus pasta plus bread and whatever, and wondering where in the world they put it.

Contact reporter Heidi Knapp Rinella at hrinella@
reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0474.