A strong tradition and a new generation of Italian restaurants in Forest Hills

Forest Hills, and the communities immediately surrounding the neighborhood, have always been home to a solid selection of classic Italian restaurants where generations of Queensians have dined on osso bucco and fried clams, antipasto and cheesecake. Not surprisingly, when chefs have looked for strategic locations to place new Italian restaurants, they have wisely chosen Forest Hills, where a seasoned audience for that cuisine exists.

Metropolitan Avenue in Forest Hills has been an especially significant thoroughfare for Italian venues, home to places like Villa Isabella (which used to be Sarabella, if anyone remembers back that far – GMAP), Picola Italia (GMAP), and Alberto (GMAP). These establishments focus on sound, recognizable menus, affordable wine ($7 Chianti), valet parking, prix fixe specials on selected nights, live music on weekends, and on welcoming big parties, even on holidays. If you’re not a long-timer, your experience at any of these spots may or may not be stellar.

A definite stand-out in this category is Spolini’s, also on Metropolitan (GMAP), but just up the way in Kew Gardens. A restaurant so popular, it didn’t used to have outdoor signage. The vibe is bustling and sometimes downright noisy, but the din fits so well in a venue where customer selections are chosen from a big chalkboard, meals are served family style, and the wait staff approaches their tasks with vigor.

After these long-standing establishments arrived a second wave of Italian restaurants. Nick’s, a critically acclaimed brick oven pizza place located on Ascan Avenue just off Austin Street (GMAP), is consistently listed among the best brick oven pizzas in the region. And this was well before technicians began popping up all over the city with their particular doughs, calibrated ovens and singular toppings. Nick’s has a simple menu – salads, pizzas and cannoli – and a beautiful turn of the 20th century-meets-diner décor. Tellingly, there is always a wait for weekend lunch or dinner.

Dee’s is another popular local restaurant featuring brick oven pizzas that seems to be dominating the family party market. Dee’s was established in 1993 and subsequently moved to a much larger space just up the block on Metropolitan (GMAP), concentrating on burgers and pizzas. Everything here is fresh and honest but appropriately sophisticated and served in larger-than-life in portions.

Few may know that Lidia Bastianich, restauranteur, author and television personality, who today lives and films her show, Lidia’s Italy, in Douglaston, Queens, opened her first restaurant, Bona Via, in Forest Hills. (Do you think they offered that truffle menu as they do at Felidia’s?) One of her protégés, Giuseppe Vitale, opened La Vigne on Metropolitan (GMAP), offering straciatella, egg drop soup with spinach, cavatelli con briciole di salsiccia, those little hot dog buns tossed with sausage and zucchini, and concentrating on Italian and Californian for wines.

Now, the most recent generation of Italian restaurants in Forest Hills are equally committed to presenting quality Italian fare and attentive service. They’re also adding a flare for innovation that is inherent in the oeuvres of chefs who have been professionally formed in high profile venues.

Tuscan Hills is on Queens Boulevard – closer to Union Turnpike than 71st Street/Continental (GMAP) – attracting a decidedly upwardly mobile and international audience. A particularly able team runs this restaurant: Chef Roberto LaMorte and Marco Del Pischio. La Morte is from the port town of Livorno in Tuscany, where he first trained as a chef, later to achieve recognition from the James Beard Foundation for his work at Trattoria Dopo Teatro in Manhattan.  Here at Tuscan Hills, the house specialty is the cacciucco alla livornese, a timeless fish stew that he changed up by topping the bowl at the very end of preparation with a thin crust of pizza dough. Tuscan Hills is now offering a family style menu on weeknights.

Il Poeta is situated on Metropolitan Avenue (GMAP) towards Trader Joe’s and the overpassing rail line that may one day become the QueensWay high line. It was instantly loved by the community for its excellent food and conscientious attitude. Chef Mario DiChiara, who had stints at Cipriani and Il Corso, serves up dishes derived from Northern Italy and from his own culinary arsenal, while his brother, Luca, runs the front of the house. Try the fegatini di pollo – chicken liver sautéed with endive, radicchio, balsamic dressing served with soft polenta. The lunch special is fantastic and the wine list is solid and affordable. Plus, they really like it when you stay and enjoy yourself.

Queens’s single Michelin Star recipient, Danny Brown, is located on Metropolitan Avenue (GMAP). Danny Brown is not categorized as an Italian establishment, but the Italian tradition is there in the menu, along with French and Spanish. It is where you go to have an inspired and interesting glass of wine and to actually glean new information on whatever you’re drinking from the bartender. It’s where you go to order a full board of cured meats and cheeses.  It’s where the small plates menu reads like this: Gilled Chorizo with parsnip, broccoli rabe, picholine olives and red wine; Spanish Mackerel Tartare with crème fraîche, capers, lemon zest and dill. The contori list is so wonderfully thorough that you can’t help but order one or two “for the table.”