My foodie friend, Steph, and I went down to Soho to check out the newest expansion of Sfoglia, one of the Upper East Side's most highly-rated Italian restaurants. The decor was rustic Italian with thick wooden tables, owl statues (the "mascot" of the region in Italy by the same name as the restaurant), marble-topped bars and serving stations and iron chandeliers. It was a nice fall evening so the floor-to-ceiling windows were open onto the street - we were even able to catch a glimpse of the San Gennaro festival happening a block away.

Because the restaurant is family-style, we ordered three appetizers from their expansive list and one pasta course. The appetizers included an escarole and crab salad (seemed more like a Caesar salad - could barely taste the crab), grilled stone fruit with ricotta (delicious with a hint of smoke flavor from the grill) and mussels with a fantastic tomato broth and slivers of salami. We had the rigatoni alla bolognese as our pasta dish which was also quite delicious and creamy (in a no-cream-added sort of way).

For dessert we had bombolini (doughnuts) with either a cream or fruit filling, rolled in sugar and topped with warm chocolate. These were delicious and sinful.

Before leaving we snuck downstairs to the closed bar area. It was a very cool space with brick walls, a fireplace and red velvet seating. It felt cozy and decadent. This would be a good room for a private party in the winter.

Although the reviews have been mixed for this restaurant, I enjoyed it and would recommend it to friends. One thing to note, however, you can hear/feel the 6 train every time it rumbles underground.

April 1, 2010 Update - Kenmare Restaurant took over this space - it's on my list of places to check out!