MISIPASTA | Brooklyn, NY
From Misi and Lilia’s Missy Robbins comes a charming market-meets-aperitivo bar in the heart of South Williamsburg.
It is the scene unfolding in the window that catches our eye as my mom and I walk past MISIPASTA on a rainy Friday afternoon in South Williamsburg, Brooklyn: dressed in their whites, two chefs roll out flour-dusted dough on a narrow wooden counter, a graceful ease to each move.
Out of curiosity, my mom and I walk off of rainy Grand Street and into the row house to discover the market-meets-apertivo bar. Wooden shelves display jars of pasta sauce, artisanal olive oils, balsamic vinegars, cookbooks, and spices. Behind a glass counter are trays of freshly made pasta of all shapes and sizes — spaghetti, cannelloni, malfaldini, rigatoni. Some I haven’t even heard of. The air smells of Parmigiano and espresso. A little Italian paradiso in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Something tells us it would be a crime to miss out on this. We take our place at one of the restaurant’s twenty countertop seats. Ours is at a small wooden table built into the display shelf with room just enough for a few small plates to share.
Headed by Missy Robbins, the Michelin-starred chef behind Brooklyn hotspots Misi and Lilia, MISIPASTA is a treat from start to finish.
The menu is notably brief. Despite its name, there are just two pasta dishes to choose from. The first is a lemon-garlic spaghetti. The second is a ricotta-filled ravioli. We decide on spaghetti.
A close-to-perfection bundle of spaghetti arrives at our table, topped with bottarga (a salted and cured roe pouch), lemon (oh-so-much-lemon), and garlic breadcrumbs. Simple as it is, the dish is bursting with flavor, yet the real joy of this dish is in the breadcrumb’s crunchy texture. The waiter brings me a spoon so I can scrape out every last bite from the bowl. I’m not letting any of this go to waste.
Our second dish is a star in its own right: a slice of grilled sourdough topped with roasted tomatoes, smoked anchovy, and fennel pollen (the secret sauce to this dish). Like the spaghetti, this dish is a lesson in the importance not only of flavor but texture: the crunch of the bread, the softness of the tomatoes, the melting of the anchovy. Missy Robbins knows what she’s doing.
Drunk on good food, we can’t help but try the chocolate amaro panna cotta, a delightful pot of rich chocolate custard and sweet cream. We cap our meal with a glass of Prosecco to split. This is an event worth celebrating.
Alla prissima volta!
Learn more about MISIPASTA here. MISIPASTA is open Monday - Thursay from 12pm-10pm and Friday - Sunday from 11am - 10pm. Walk-ins are welcome.