Palmira's in Brooklyn Heights

Have you ever had hot zabaglione? I actually thought it sounded kind of strange, a sauce made of egg yolks, sugar and marsala. It's whipped in a round-bottomed zabaglione pan (or the top of a double boiler) over gently boiling water until cooked. I was expecting something like custard, but it's much airier and tastes strongly of the wine. Palmira's serves it alone in a small wine glass, as well as with chocolate gelato with fruit. I had it alone last night when we ate here, which was the perfect introduction to it. It was a great way to squeeze in dessert after a big meal.

The proprietors' daughter, Jennifer Desmond, had sent me some menus, and there were a number of appetizers, salads and desserts I wanted to try (including the zabaglione), but I actually ended up liking the entrees we had the best (granted, we didn't give them much chance to show off with the starter, since we order antipasti, which was good). We both ordered specials. Mine was rigatoni with duck ragu, which was exactly what I had been shooting for when I made ragu: super-rich, with this deep, meaty flavor. Todd had branzino, which seems to be their fish of choice, with oranges, tomatoes(?) and olives (very adventurous of Todd, but he really liked it). Todd doesn't usually like sweets except for dessert, but the flavors of the sauce were so well-balanced, the oranges were more acidic with just a hint of sweetness, cutting through the briney olives.

I never would have found the restaurant on my own, but it's actually pretty easy to get to once you know it's there, especially if you're already downtown: one stop into Brooklyn on the 2 or 3 train, then get off at Clark Street and it's right around the corner, 41 Clark Street. The location kind of illustrates one of the strange things about New York: You can be so easy to get to, but if you're not right on a main street with lots of foot traffic, it's hard to fill seats. Palmira's is pretty big, with two main dining areas (they do host lots of parties, especially this time of year), and on a Thursday night it felt kind of empty. It seemed reasonably priced (we would have spent about $100 for antipasti, wine, beer, entrees, two desserts and coffee) with pretty good food. Everyone's friendly there, the service is good, the dining area is comfortable, which makes it feel like a neighborhood place that's still looking for its neighborhood.