Thursday, Mar. 18, 2010

Pizzeria is just like family

Nico's of N.Y. Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria

By Ashley Morris -

Setting the Table

Like a Hawaiian Tropic beauty pageant contestant in the midst of pale Pennsylvania spring breakers, the little white cottage that houses Nico's of N.Y. stands out as an eye-catcher between a Laundromat, neighboring mini-golf courses and a bar closed for the winter, and empty parking lots along U.S. 17 Business in Garden City Beach. 'Tis the season, I suppose; another season may mean another scene.

After we dodged one father and son leaving Nico's with their takeout dinner stacked in pizza boxes, we climbed the steps to the little front porch of Nico's little white cottage and opened the front door. It was like we walked into someone's comfy foyer and living room for a dinner party.

We arrived at the tail-end of the Early Bird crowd (3-5 p.m.), so nearly every table in the front and back of the house were filled with folks finishing up plates of pasta, laughing and dotting napkins at their mouths. The twentysomething hostess and server scrambled to clean up one four-top available - and set up two highchairs - for the four of us in the front dining room.

Down the Hatch

After a drawn-out delay, which even included a potty break for our anxious potty-training toddler, our smiling server arrived to rattle off the night's dinner specials and take our drink order: two glasses of wine ($6.50 each) and a lemonade ($2), please.

Usually, my strategy is to feed the restless, hungry child first, but our 2-year-old was indecisive and clearly stated that he was not interested in spaghetti and meatballs. What?

So it was an antipasti of Mozzarella, Tomatoes and Prosciutto ($10.25) for Mom and Dad while we all worked out a game plan. The ingredients were refreshingly fresh, drizzled with EVOO (extra virgin olive oil).

My eldest son finally agreed on an adult helping of a cheese calzone ($6.50), a huge, baked dough pod stuffed with mozzarella and ricotta, served with a side of marinara for dipping. "It's like a big grilled cheese sandwich," I told him. And it worked like mozzarella magic. (Also worked for Dad, who had the remaining three-quarters of the calzone for lunch the next day.)

Husband and I were sold on the tempting assortment of specials that night. He went with the Chicken and Pepperoni Lasagna ($13.95), a delicious variant to the usual ground-beef-and-cheese standby. I chose the Lobster-Stuffed Ravioli in Pink Sauce ($17.50), which was rich and creamy - a nice balance of powers in the sweet lobster meat, fresh noodles and sauce.

We were also served a family-style bowl of peas seasoned with bacon to share, which I thought was a nice, unexpected dinner addition. And the complimentary basket of warm garlic knots was to-die-for.

Check, Please

I had noticed that other servers, including ours, had stopped at each table shaking a red plastic jug, but didn't know what it was until we were boxing up our dinners to-go. Our server then asked us to pick a number between 1 and 90, she would shake the jug and pull a dice out of it, and if we guessed correctly, dinner was on the house. What a great idea. As she shook the jug, I thought, and asked her several questions, which she answered patiently. (One was, "Has anyone ever won?" And the answer was, "Yes.") Unfortunately, I'm very unlucky and my guess of 36 (combined dates of sons' births) wasn't the 43 that was pulled. Maybe on my next visit.

Nico's of NY Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria is at 3030 U.S. 17 Business, Garden City Beach. Hours are 3-9 p.m. Monday through Friday and 3-10 p.m. Saturday. Call 651-1528.