Il Passatore

A portrait of a bearded man graces the front of the small, two-inch square card that I was handed with the check at the end of a meal at Il Passatore. The portrait is an idealized one of the Passatore, or Ferryman, a Robin Hood-esque, folk character from Emilia-Romagna in Italy—an entirely fitting mascot for this charming, down-home restaurant serving food of the same region.
Emilia-Romagna, an area of north-central Italy, is famous for foods like Prosciutto di Parma and Parmagiano Reggiano, and is widely considered to be the culinary center of the country. The rich food culture of the region sets a high standard for restaurants in that style, and Il Passatore reaches the bar.
Upon entering, the homey feel of the place is immediately apparent. It is decorated in a sparse, country style, and has a newly opened garden for outdoor seating.
I tried three simple and straightforward pasta dishes. The pasta is made on site daily, and paired with fresh ingredients. The first was cavatelli with mushrooms and goat cheese. The cavatelli, a home-style pasta, short with a rolled edge, was thick and al dente. The spinach gnocchi was light and flavorful, thanks I suspect to its being made with ricotta. It was served in a delicious red sauce, which is so often hard to come by. My favorite, however, was the tortelli with butternut squash and a butter and truffle oil sauce. Tortelli is a stuffed pasta that looks like small ravioli, or less tightly folded tortellini. The squash filling was smooth and rich and the sauce equally so.

Two deserts rounded out the meal: the chocolate torte and the tiramisu. The torte was rich, dense and hot required pairing with vanilla ice cream. The tiramisu was light and creamy and the cake was not overly saturated in either espresso or liqueur.

In addition to the pasta and desert menus, there are comprehensive menus of salad, antipasti and secondi (fish and meat dishes).
When my companions and I finished our meal, there was no rush to hustle us out the door, and it was pleasant to sit, chat and listen to rapid fire of Italian from the wait staff. Though the restaurant at 14 Bushwick Ave is, on the outside, located at the end of a busy thoroughfare and wedged between two gas stations, on the inside it is easy to forget where you are.
The best part though, was the bill at the end of the meal—it was entirely reasonable, the pasta dishes coming in under $10 apiece and the deserts at $5.50 each. Quality food and a reasonable price are a rare bird in New York these day and increasingly important in tough economic times, so it’s nice to see both so close to home.
A quick note: I noticed there is a weekend brunch menu that includes pasta dishes off the regular lunch menu as well as classic brunch dishes like frittatas and Eggs Benedict. With food on brunch menus I’m usually a tough sell, but with the quality at Il Passatore, I’m sold.