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March 10, 2008
StreetLevel: Sotto Voce Building Mini-Empire on 5th Ave.
The owners of the 7th Avenue's Sotto Voce are bringing versions of their popular Italian formula to two new locations on 5th Avenue. Within the next month they're going to open a bistro called Aperitivo on the corner of 1st street (shown above left). One of Sotto's managers says Aperitivo is going to be open from early morning to late at night and have classic bistro trappings like a marble bar. A block and a half away, meanwhile, Sotto's owners are opening a much larger "family-style" restaurant called Alta Voce (pictured to the right above). The eatery, on 5th Ave. between 2nd and 3rd streets, will sprawl over two levels and include a backyard garden and a wine cellar. Alta Voce will specialize in dishes like pasta for three or four, according to the Sotto manager, and it's scheduled to be in business in June. Salute! GMAP GMAP
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Comments
Great news!!
Did anyone also see that AL DI LA was just rated the 4th best Italian restaurant in all of NYC for Zagat 2008?!!
Babbo is number one.
Posted by: guest at March 10, 2008 2:33 PM
Who says Park Slope's not on fire. So many new things opening on 7th and 5th, I can hardly keep track.
Posted by: guest at March 10, 2008 2:38 PM
*****Breaking***********Breaking***********Breaking***********Breaking***********Breaking***********Breaking***********Breaking***********Breaking***********Breaking***********Breaking***********Breaking******
The Gov is a PIMPI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://nytimes.com/
Spitzer Is Linked to Prostitution Ring
OH Shit!!!!! LMMFAO
The What
Someday this war is gonna end..........
Posted by: guest at March 10, 2008 2:42 PM
Great. More lousy food from Sotto Voce. The one on 7th Avenue is borderline awful.
Posted by: guest at March 10, 2008 3:19 PM
guess they do better than we think to be opening up two new places on quite expensive 5th avenue.
rents there are not cheap these days.
Posted by: guest at March 10, 2008 3:25 PM
tWhat, go get a job. You are such a loser.
Posted by: guest at March 10, 2008 3:29 PM
Never said their business was lousy, only their food.
Posted by: guest at March 10, 2008 3:42 PM
the spot on 5th and 1st looks nice.
really nice marble details from what i saw.
Posted by: guest at March 10, 2008 3:44 PM
Haven't been to the one on 7th in months. It wasn't awful though, just kind of meh. Maybe these two will have different and possibly improved menus. Damn, 5th Ave is amazing.
Posted by: guest at March 10, 2008 3:50 PM
That actually is a good word for it, 3:50. Amazing. For anyone who has lived here for a while, you will remember that as recently as 2000 or 1999, 5th Avenue was nothing short of seedy. Bodegas or abandonded buildings dominated the strip. (If we go back to 1990 or 1995, 5th was a HELLHOLE!)
I can't think of many other corridors in NY or elsewhere that have had such a significant transformation in such a short period of time.
Someone should write a story about it. It is quite amazing to me.
5TH is my favorite place to shop/dine/drink in all of Brooklyn.
Posted by: guest at March 10, 2008 3:55 PM
Smith St. turned around faster. It used to be even worse than 5th, and now its tied or better.
Posted by: slick at March 10, 2008 4:10 PM
I agree Smith is nice, but I don't agree it's better. Most of the nicer places seemed to have opened up second shops on 5th...and 5th spans many, many more blocks than Smith with the more upscale stuff in the north and center and then the off the beaten path stuff farther down 5th into the teens.
You can walk along 5th every weekend and explore something new every time.
For me, a walk down Smith and I've seen it all in 2 hours.
Posted by: guest at March 10, 2008 4:21 PM
My favorite Italian restuarant in all of Brooklyn. Love the fresh fettucini with mushrooms and chicken. Who beats'em? I wanna know. Some place in Bensonhurst?
Posted by: guest at March 10, 2008 4:29 PM
yep Sotto Voce is decidedly mediocre...
Posted by: guest at March 10, 2008 4:31 PM
tWhat, what is a PIMPI? Your public-school education is showing yet again.
Posted by: guest at March 10, 2008 4:31 PM
Al di La is ranked the 4th best Italian place in NYC.
This place does not make the list at all.
I think it's probably 4th from last.
Posted by: guest at March 10, 2008 4:33 PM
Who beats'em? I wanna know.
There's a great place on Union Street between seventh and sixth, but the name escapes me right now. Excellent Italian fare.
Posted by: guest at March 10, 2008 4:33 PM
This is good. Fifth Avenue needs more restaurants.
Posted by: guest at March 10, 2008 4:34 PM
I think Olive Garden beats em.
Is the place on Union Scaditto or something like that?
You aren't going to find better Italian food in Brooklyn than Al Di La though.
Posted by: guest at March 10, 2008 4:36 PM
"Your public-school education is showing yet again."
It's your business if you want to battle with The What, but you need to stop dissing public school. I went to public school, got a good education there, and today I am a gainfully employed professional. There's nothing wrong with public school, only with some of the people who attend and teach there. If you apply yourself and your parents are involved, you be as well educated in public school as anywhere. OK?
Posted by: guest at March 10, 2008 4:38 PM
if you are going to make sweeping generalizations about schooling, i think there is a lot more negative to be said about private than public.
Posted by: guest at March 10, 2008 4:40 PM
Chef Boyardee beats Sotto Voce.
Posted by: guest at March 10, 2008 4:58 PM
"My favorite Italian restuarant in all of Brooklyn. Love the fresh fettucini with mushrooms and chicken. Who beats'em? I wanna know. Some place in Bensonhurst?"
Thanks owners!!!!
But you ain't foolin anyone here.
If you want to be a success, don't make both these places too family-friendly so as to scare away all the singles and couples, use more locally grown and organic food and be a little more inventive and creative with your menu.
That's all it will take to be successful in Park Slope.
A nice interior helps a lot too.
Posted by: guest at March 10, 2008 4:58 PM
The What is a product of public school education. P.S. 54, right What? Nothing points to the poor quality of public school education in Brooklyn than The What.
Posted by: guest at March 10, 2008 5:26 PM
All you need to be successful in Park Slope is third rate pasta. Aunt Suzie's, Sotto Vocce, what's that Vecchio place on 5th?
Posted by: denton at March 10, 2008 5:29 PM
No 4:58 - it takes only 2 things to make a restaurant a success - great food and decent service.
Everything else is window dressing -
Scotto Voce's food is bad foreshadowing for these two restaurants - but I wish them well
Posted by: guest at March 10, 2008 5:29 PM
To compete with one of the best Italian restaurants in the city (Al Di La) I think you might need a little more on already Italian soaked 5th Avenue. Great food, yes. Decent service, yes. But how about shooting for something else...nice renovation, organic, something to make you stand out from the rest?
The truly GREAT restaurants in the Slope have a little more to offer than just great food and service in my opinion. They offer a complete dining experience.
Posted by: guest at March 10, 2008 5:39 PM
"already Italian soaked 5th Avenue"
Yes, but with about two exceptions, the Italian on 5th is "meh" at best. Good will suffice, great would be better, of course.
Posted by: guest at March 10, 2008 5:52 PM
"Al di la' " is overrated. The density of animal fats and grease in their dishes (as opposed to the olive oils that prevail in the Central and Southern Italian cuisine) is typical of the North-Eastern Italian tradition. Their dishes smell appetizing, but I cannot remember a time I have eaten there without feeling a sense of indigestion afterwards.
Posted by: guest at March 10, 2008 6:10 PM
How disappointing. Aside from the fact that Sotto Voce sucks, why is it that shopkeepers and restaurant owners on one of 7th or 5th Avenues don't realize that it's silly to put in another on the other avenue? It's all the same neighborhood -- we all walk to both avenues. They're not suddenly attracting new customers by having a second location but more like splitting the customers they would have had anyway. What a waste. It would be so much better to have some other restaurant come in.
Posted by: jules at March 10, 2008 6:24 PM
I've been wondering about that "let's put one on both 5th and 7th" strategy too. Sounds expensive given the out-of-control commercial rents. I spend more time on 5th, and tend to prefer it, but I am also on 7th rather frequently. Seems you could choose one location and do just as well.
Posted by: guest at March 10, 2008 6:31 PM
I heard that many resturants on 7th have been closing due to greedy landlords. They would much rather rent on 5th where the rents are cheaper and the foot traffic greater. After all...5th avenue is "resturant row".
Posted by: guest at March 10, 2008 7:05 PM
This is so exciting. I can't believe all the great changes that have come to 5th avenue. The place is absolutely amazing. Its changing so fast. I wonder what it will look like a year from now?
Posted by: guest at March 10, 2008 7:07 PM
5TH AVENUE ROCKS!
Posted by: guest at March 10, 2008 7:07 PM
I haven't been to Al Di La - but from what I understand, it only serves "Northern" Italian fare which is fine if that's what you dig...but it's not truly a good representative of what Italian cooking really is(or what we New Yorkers have loved for the past 80 years). Sorry, I'd take a piece of lasagne over a dish of tripe in a "savory sauce"
just my 2 cents
Posted by: gemini10 at March 10, 2008 8:14 PM
"I wonder what it will look like a year from now?"
If they keep raising rents, 5th will look a lot like 7th, with increasing numbers of long-empty storefronts.
Posted by: guest at March 10, 2008 8:17 PM
"Al Di La... not truly a good representative of what Italian cooking really is"
Ever seen the episode of The Sopranos where the guys visit Italy and Paulie is confused by real Italian food?
One of the best episodes ever.
Posted by: guest at March 10, 2008 8:44 PM
consider me paulie then............
whatchagonadoabouit?
Posted by: gemini10 at March 10, 2008 9:29 PM
Didn't you hear Sotto Voche all the Italians moved to Carroll Gardens!
Posted by: guest at March 11, 2008 9:00 AM
Paulie was a stupid idiot. What do you think about that?
Nothing is more boring than the debate about authentic or non-authentic food. Authentic food can suck. Non-authentic approximations of regional fare could be spectacular. Whatchagonnadoaboutit Paulie?
Posted by: guest at March 11, 2008 5:50 PM
All you "foodies" need to get off your high horses. Sotte Voce is what it is, fairly standard Italian fare.
Next you'll be knocking Two Toms.
On a positive note, this is the place for great Italian in Fort Greene:
http://www.locandavinieolii.com/
Posted by: Bensonhurst at March 14, 2008 4:27 PM
Just made the mistake of eating at Sotte Voce. Wow, what mediocrity. God I hate throwing $95 into the wind. Stale bread. Gritty salad. Starkist tuna-like mahi mahi. The pork chops and cherry peppers?!? Overcooked under seasoned crap.
Wait, the Peroni was good. Should have ordered MSG takeout and bought a new pair of sneakers.
I really think the Park Slope pretentiousness has gone to the neighborhood's collective head, because the restaurants in this part of BK are generally not so impressive and the atmosphere is...well, kind of sterile and boring.
Public vs. Private schools? Huh? What kind of asshole mocks public schooling? A Park Slope asshole, that's who...
Posted by: guest at April 5, 2008 11:17 PM
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