Piadina: Disappointing

I had dinner at Piadina, a small restaurant for which I had high hopes, since it locates itself on W. 10th St. between 5th and 6th, across the street from Alta, a tapas place I love. The restaurants is effectively split into two portions, with the outer separate from the inner by a narrow corridor adjoining the kitchen. We sat in the inner portion. Here, the ambience is charming and a little rustic, with candles covered with semi-translucent paper wrappers exposed brick, black and white pictures, and lights strung on strings.

For an appetizer, we ordered Piadina, which they call flatbread, and comes in what looks a whole lot like a quesadilla. The flavors of the tomato and cheese inside were good, but not good enough to overcome the fact that the dish was served lukewarm in parts, and downright cold in others.

This was not a trend to stop there, either. Our pastas -- one, a rigatoni with eggplant and the other, a ricotta and arugula ravioli, were also solid in flavor, but served lukewarm. The pasta was a little excessively chewy as well.

So overall Piadina was a letdown, especially given that it has good recipes and a nice atmosphere, but due to disorganization or laziness, cannot serve the food fresh and hot.

Stars: 2/5