Dino - Fort Greene

Dino, a newish spot on DeKalb (222 DeKalb), boasts a decently priced brunch/lunch menu and a dinner menu. While the restaurant describes itself as Italian, I would call it more American fusion Italian. If you are looking for old school pasta dishes like Tony Soprano eats - this place is not it. Though we ate dinner at this place, I did a quick glance at the brunch menu and saw that it was quite similar, just a bit cheaper in price.

First off, the place is tiny with tables crammed into every nook and cranny. They also have a bar but it's more for ambiance since there is no possible way a group could sit at the bar and have a group eating at the table behind them without a severe attack of claustrophobia. With the exception of 3 tables in the back, the other tables are literally next to each other. It's not the sort of place you want to have a deeply personal conversation unless you don't mind you neighbors hearing your play by play of what’s going with you life. With the exception of the cramp quarters, the place is very cute with soft lighting, simple but refreshing decor, and an attentive wait staff.

Now to the food....

Interesting menu with a host of pasta options though only a handful of meat dishes. For appetizers, we chose an avocado crostini, off the specials, and calamari. The crostini was good with just the right amount of avocado spread though the bread could have been crustier. The calamari was sautéed, not fried, which I loved. It tasted fresh and just the right amount of spicy and chewy. This was my favorite dish of the night!

For my main meal, I chose the orecchiette pasta, which was pasta with a pistachio arugula pesto sauce. The sauce had only a slight hint of pesto with an overpowering taste of argula. Now, I like the taste of arugula so I was very pleasantly surprised but the sauce does not resemble any sort of pesto sauce I’ve ever tasted. The dish was exceptionally hearty with lots of vegetables throughout the dish including potatoes, peppers, and green beans. Overall, I was pleased with my dish. Justin got the bucatini, which was pasta with pancetta, tomato, and a whole bunch of spices. However the dish turned out to be much more similar to spaghetti and tomato sauce with a little bit of meat thrown in. Nothing particularly special.

Because of some logistical moves during the course of our meal, we ended up getting a free dessert. We picked the tiramisu. The tiramisu was delicious and was a great end to the meal yet not the best tiramisu I ever had. That sums about how I felt about Dino – good food and ambiance but not the best ever.