Il Mattone

One of the many staples of my diet is pasta (also included: watermelon, mangoes, apples, peanut butter, potatoes, steak, and Pinkberry). I love making pasta at home topped with Whole Foods’ basic marinara, some bell peppers, and a little Italian sausage. When I don’t feel like cooking, I’d like to have a restaurant to fall back on for quality pasta/Italian food that’s not too pricey. That’s where Il Mattone comes in – it’s a not-too-expensive Italian place in Tribeca that offers quality Italian foods (antipasti, pizza, pasta, and other goodies). Chris loves the pasta and the artichokes from Il Mattone, so of course, we had to order both!

We started off with the artichokes:

They’re in a buttery lemon sauce that was so tart and tasty I can definitely see why Chris loves them so much. The tomatoes and artichokes paired well together and the dish was a great way to start the meal.

I ordered the rigatoni, the pasta Chris usually orders, which came with portobello mushrooms, chicken, and smoked mozzarella in a light tomato cream sauce:

The dish was absolutely amazing – the tomato cream sauce was really chunky (which I loved), the rigatoni was cooked perfectly, and the smoked mozzarella added a great overall flavor to the dish. The one thing I didn’t care for was the chicken – it was a tad dry and didn’t add anything to the dish. If I were to order the dish again, I’d ask that they make it vegetarian (add more mushroom instead of the chicken for a meaty flavor). The dish was perfect otherwise!

Chris ordered the seafood ravioli – ravioli with shrimp, crab meat, and lobster in a vodka sauce:

We heard that the seafood ravioli was a great dish that was a special treat, but neither of us liked the ravioli. The crab meat tasted grainy and I don’t think the proportions of the different types of seafood was equal, making the dish too crabby. Also, I don’t think the vodka sauce paired well with the seafood ravioli.

Il Mattone was a great place for pasta and it’s on a quiet street in Tribeca. There’s also outdoor seating, which is great for summer nights. I hear the pizza’s great, too!