Italian goodies await you at the East Village's Hearth, Chef Marco Canora's Italian joint on 12th Street and 1st Avenue. Hearth is a great restaurant. My dinner there last week was a truly enjoyable experience, and I highly recommend this spot.

Warm vegetable salad ($12), beans, summer squash, red onion, and new potato, is a really nice start. The touch of olive oil and lemon is splendid.

A pasta dish of canestri pasta ($28), with San Marzano tomato, eggplant, and ricotta salata, is delicious. Light and simple, yet homey and perfect. It tasted as if one's Italian grandmother might have made it. Sweetness!

A special of black bass for two ($56), does not come cheap, but oh, how wonderful this fish is. Absolutely perfectly cooked, the meat so tender, juicy, and clean. The aroma of rosemary and lemon permeates throughout. The slivers of potato and onion served with the dish are spot on excellent too. I would swim with this fish any day.

Order a side of hen of the woods mushrooms ($12) too. They are meaty, flavorful, and unlike any mushrooms you probably have had. Fabulous!

End your meal with the blueberry shortcake ($11), with lime, whipped cream, and blueberry ice cream. A lovely ending, to a fantastic meal.

Hearth is where the heart is.

Hearth
403 East 12th St. (and 1st ave)
New York, NY 10009
646-602-1300