Sherman's Travel

When a friend suggested dinner in Manhattan’s Tribeca, the first thing I thought was that it would be a relatively long taxi ride downtown. The second thing I thought was that a Tribeca dining spot would be a somewhat pretentious, loud, trendy restaurant with so-so food (and high prices). Well, I could not have been further off the mark than with Scalini Fedeli on Duane Street. This super charming, refined, but not too formal, restaurant wins on all counts.

Scalini Fedeli’s entrance has baskets of fresh fruit, which help set the tone that, while upscale, this is a quite approachable restaurant with maybe 15 tables. The main dining room is elegant and relaxed, with burning candles tableside (rare in Manhattan). The vaulted ceilings and stained glass windows reminded me a bit of a church and I wondered if it may have been one in days past. Be that as it may, the ambiance was entirely warm and comfortable; it’s not as formal as Bouley just down the street and the food is every bit as good.

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