Pasta e Pollo—A Little Treasure

Pasta e Pollo is a small restaurant tucked in a row of shops on Godwin Avenue across from Whole Foods. It offers traditional Italian fare that is very good, with some sauces that are outstanding.

Two small sidewalk tables flanked by tall urns planted with flowers offer a pleasant place to sit when the weather cooperates.

Inside, the walls are a dark, brick red, matching the tablecloths, which are overlaid with cream-colored cloths. The floor is a flowered carpet, which cuts down on the noise level. The artwork is eclectic, but interesting.

My only objection to the décor: plastic flowers, faded and dusty-looking, in planters around the L-shaped room. In an interview after my last visit, owner Tony Mourad promised to fix them.

Mourad, who was born in Beirut, came to Ridgewood via Nice, Cannes, Paris, Abu Dhabi and Dubai, where he worked as a maître d'. "When you are a maître d', you have to learn to do it all—the cooking and the sauces," Mourad said.

He took over Pasta e Pollo from a friend six years ago, but kept the same chef and the basic Italian menu the restaurant had when it opened in 1998. His father, he said, had been a chef specializing in Italian cooking, and he learned to cook from him at home. 

Until this week, I had only been to Pasta e Pollo once or twice before, but my partner used to go there regularly when I had night classes. (He is rarely inclined to fix a whole dinner himself.) And despite some mixed online reviews, we've never had a bad meal there. (I've learned in recent years that it is usually smart to disregard online reviews from disgruntled diners. Their experiences rarely match my own.)

Our latest meal started with mussels in a white wine sauce. The mussels were large, and the sauce was a surprise—a thick, creamy concoction that was heavier than we expected but very good.

We used it as dipping sauce for the bread. Its ingredients remain Mourad's secret, though he did promise to show me how it was done the next time we come in.

Both main courses came with a house salad, and my partner had the Italian dressing while I tried the creamy balsamic. It was another very good sauce in a night that was proving to be all about sauces.

My main course was one of the night's specials, lobster ravioli with a choice of sauces. I took the "pink" sauce, which was more of a rich, salmon color with an equally rich taste. The ravioli were large, the portion generous, and I thought at first I might take some home, but I ate every last bite.

My clam-loving partner had clams oregano and white beans, which turned out to be another sauce-rich dish that would have been perfect on a cold winter night. He ate it all, anyway, even though it was 92 degrees outside.

We finished with a tartufo. It had coconut in it, and my partner does not feel any true tartufo will contain coconut, possibly because he doesn't like it. But coconut is actually one of the options listed in many recipes.

The service during the evening was very nice, attentive but not in-your-face, so it is a good place to go with friends for an evening of good food and conversation. It may not be ideal for children, simply because it is not a large space.

Food: Very Good

Service:  Excellent

Entrée Price Range: $14.95 - $25.95

Atmosphere: Friendly

BYOB

Credit Cards Accepted

OpenTable: No