Restaurant of the Week: A Voce Columbus

If ever there were a place where the term "bad economy" isn't part of the lexicon, it is A Voce Columbus, bustling on a rainy Thursday night. Wine was flowing and dishes like roasted mushrooms ($14) and mezzaluna ($21) -- taleggio cheese filled pasta with butternut squash, brown butter and sage  -- flew out of the kitchen in some sort of food frenzy. Chef Missy Robbins's multidimensional and refined Italian cuisine has been given the presidential stamp of approval: the Obamas were regulars at her last post in Chicago, Spiaggia. And now here she is at the second incarnation of A Voce in the Time Warner Center (the first is near Madison Square Park), where no details have been overlooked. From the second you enter the sleek, modern dining room and on to the very end of your meal, when the dolci di Carnevale cookies are presented, you will experience restaurant service at its finest. Robbins' menu holds many appealing items -- charcuterie, cheese, pork belly with figs ($12), pappardelle with rabbit ($25) and an exceptional pork chop ($29), more than an inch thick. To go with it all, we chose a humble Qupe Syrah ($40) from a wine list that boasts over 850 selections. For dessert, the pumpkin bread pudding ($10) with orange gelato and pumpkin seeds, is a sublime melding of taste and texture. A Voce is a democratic delight -- you will enjoy yourself here whether you're having antipasti with a glass of wine or going all out with multiple courses and maybe even the biggest wine splurge in the city: a $14,000 Rothschild from 1945.    

A Voce Columbus 
10 Columbus Circle, 3rd Floor 
(212) 823-2523
Avocerestaurant.com