Issue #10
June 2002
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The Art of Clam Sauce by David Katz It should be an axiom of cooking that there is no one right way to prepare a dish. Not only does personal taste play a major part, but variations may be equally pleasing to the palate. In the tradition of our pastrami comparison (see "Pastrami Nosh-Off", Christmas 2001), your correspondant has done a comparative study of linguini and white clam sauce that bears out this axiom.
Four restaurants in the West Village were selected for this comparison: Trattoria Spaghetto, Mommino, Oro Blu, and Marinella. Trattoria Spaghetto has long been my benchmark for excellent linguini with white clam sauce. The restaurant has been in its present corner location for years, and is a pleasant, unassuming place whose front wall opens in the summer to allow for outdoor tables.
The Trattoria Spaghetto clam sauce is clear, well-herbed, a bit peppery, and contains enough garlic to let you know it's there, but not so much that the subtleties of the sauce are lost. There are whole clams and clam slices in profusion, but no chopped clams. The clams are tender, and their sweet briny flavor infuses the sauce. The linguini is perfectly al dente.
Mammino is a relatively new restaurant with an expensive feel and comfortable, well-spaced tables, but the prices are moderate. Its white clam sauce is clear, with a sophisticated use of herbs, less tangy than Spaghetto's sauce, but more subtle. In addition to the plump whole clams in the sauce (not as many as Spaghetto, but more than enough), the dish is served with more than a dozen small Manilla clams on the half-shell sitting on top. Both the Manilla clams and the larger clams in the sauce were fresh and tasty. The linguini was perfectly al dente.
Oro Blu is another upscale-looking restaurant, though not as elegant as Mammino. Its linguini with white clam sauce was quite acceptable, but lacked the special qualities of either Spaghetto or Mammino. Several little-necks in their shells supplimented the clams in the sauce. The clams were fresh and numerous and the linguini al dente.
Marinella occupies the site that housed a Spanish restaurant for many years, and still has the pleasant look of a Spanish country inn. Its linguini in white clam sauce was a bit too salty, and the clams, though abundant, had an iodine undertone that detracted from the enjoyment of the dish. Still, it was better than run-of-the-mill.
Trattoria Spaghetto retains its crown as the linguini with white clam sauce benchmark, but Mammino was every bit as good, and might appeal to some palates more. Oro Blu is not quite up to their standard, but is better than average. Marinella makes an acceptable dish, though not up to the level set by the two leaders. In less august company Marinella would have scored well.
Trattoria Spaghetto, 232 Bleeker Street at Carmine, 212 255-6752.
Mammino, 350 Hudson Street, 212 627-5800.
Oro Blu, 333 Hudson Street at Charlton Street, 212 645-8004.
Marinella, 49 Carmine Street at Bedford, 212 807-7472.
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