Basta Trattoria
(CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS)

Earth Dinners to celebrate the bounty of our glorious Mother Earth.

Saturday, April 22, 2006 Join us for our annual Earth Dinners. Enjoy an organic and sustainable meal, from soup to dessert, made using the freshest, most locally grown (it's a little early for everything to come from our beloved city, but we'll buy from as close as possible to continue our ongoing support of our small family farmers) ingredients.

As the date nears, we'll plan our menu based on the best available foods, so please come back to this site for more details.

We hope to have a few guests, farmers and other environmentalists who will engage and enlighten us about the many benefits of buying and supporting our local farms.

** A portion of our Earth Dinner sales will benefit the Common Ground High School who grow our magnificent summer organic produce. Meet our farmers and hear their stories as you enjoy the bounty of our land.

Thank you, and Peace, Claire

Sustainable, Organic, Wild, Line-Caught fish and seafoods, Organic and Free-Range Chicken, Certified Black Angus Beef, Hand Made Italian Cheeses, Italian Wines from small family owned vineyards throughout Italy Lovingly and Skillfully prepared in the classic Italian tradition

1006 Chapel St., right next to Claire's Corner Copia
New Haven, CT. 06510
Telephone: (203)772-1715
Reservations accepted.

Hours:
Lunch, Monday through Friday, 11:30 - 3:00
Dinner, 7 evenings a week from 5:00 until 9:30 on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
until 11:00 on Thursday, Friday, Saturday

Recent review:

The words below,
appeared in the February 4, 2005
issue of the Yale Daily News, and were written by Kevin Roe:
"The cuisine, as the wait staff will cheerfully and knowledgeably explain, is southern Italian, and southern Italian cuisine, as almost any food lover will tell you, is delicious. "

The "piccoli piatti" or small plates range from the self-explanatory grilled jumbo shrimp on a rosemary skewer ($9) to the intriguing ricotta di' Natale ($8), which, as the menu explains, is "hand-packed ricotta cheese, lightly toasted shaved almonds and berries, drizzled with Italian chestnut honey."

As good as this sounded, I was in the mood for something a little less sweet, so I opted for the calamari fritti with two sauces ($9). These golden-brown little rings are peppery and delicious. Your waiter will assure you that they are so good because they are fried in organic sunflower oil. I assure you that I don't care what they fry them in, so long as they keep it up. You can't go wrong with either of the titular sauces, a creamy, tangy lemon aioli and a spicy, chunky marinara.

The pasta dishes are even more impressive than the starters. The penne arrabbiata ($14) is penne pasta served in a spicy sauce made with peppers and red wine. The flavors of tomatoes and basil come through clearly, followed quickly by the heat of cherry peppers.

Even better, however, is the farfalle funghi ($16). As the menu matter-of-factly explains, bowtie pasta is tossed in a "light sauce of button, cremini and portobello mushrooms; prosciutto; cream; and white wine." They apparently neglected to include in this list whatever magic powder the chef adds to make this dish so delectable. Perhaps revealing the secret was prohibited in his pact with the devil. The mushrooms are terrific, and the prosciutto is good enough to eat on its own. Many white sauces are far too rich and heavy, but this one is light and airy, which enabled me to eat almost all of it. Don't miss this dish.