A Riviera Runs Through It

When Fosnot lets his instincts run free, the results are more successful than his sometimes constrained Ligurian excursions. He marinates fresh scampi—typically associated with Venice, on the other side of Italy—in marjoram, mint, and orange ($13), made piquant with Fresno pepper and cooled with a bed of shaved fennel salad. He also offers his own variation on the burger: “sliders” ($6)—actually, light-textured Italian meatballs with provolone, tomatoes, and basil—complemented by superior fries with pesto mayonnaise ($5). These are concessions to the neighborhood, he told me; they make great bar food, and feel relaxed.

The meat course in Italy is usually a one-note affair, and a brown and tough one at that, particularly in seafood-focused Liguria. So Fosnot basically makes his up. Best are the nicely rosy slices of grilled leg of lamb accompanied by escarole and fava bean pesto ($24) and the hanger steak with olive butter ($22), the meat a bit chewy but the roasted fingerlings with rosemary quite good. The most Ligurian-looking main course is the whole roasted branzino with olives, potatoes, tomatoes, and pine nuts ($24), served in a dramatically wide two-handled iron baking dish. It was both simple and richly flavored, and left me wishing more restaurants would follow Rocca’s lead—fish never tastes so succulent as when eaten off the bone.

Desserts, a lesser consideration in Italy, are cause for racing pulses at Rocca. (The oddly scanty wine list, though, seems like an afterthought, or a work in progress.) Ruth-Anne Adams, Fosnot’s wife and herself an accomplished chef (long at Casablanca), developed the recipes, and two are absolutely terrific: almond bark ($9), a crunchy almond cookie with a thin meringue topping accompanied by a pool of rum-spiked chocolate dipping sauce; and pacciugo di Portofino ($9), a huge gelato and sorbet sundae served parfait style in a tall, fat glass. The creamy strawberry and vanilla gelati, made in New Hampshire, are lightened with lemon sorbet, enriched with whipped cream, and topped with strawberry sauce and crushed amaretti. The result is hard to resist—and why should you? B