L'Impero--CLOSED

07/15/08

Michael White's Italian eatery in Tudor City has been overhauled and re-opened under the name Convivo.

by Justin Hartung at Citysearch

The Scene
This Italian restaurant does fine dining by the numbers: A dining room draped in cloth that's spacious and yet somehow claustrophobic? Check. A color-changing bar that attempts hipness, but looks more like the set of a bad 90s movie? Check two. The shrub-laden courtyard, where the vibe is less stuffy and the park view truly transporting? Absolutely worth checking out.

The Food
The elegant Pugliese fare of chef Michael White (formerly of Fiamma) keeps culinary cliches on the back burner. Nearly every dish surprises with unexpected tastes: Chilled tomato soup wets a fluffy cloud of burrata; plump figs get tossed with luscious pork belly; and pine nuts and raisins add crunch to the creamy texture of roasted black bass. But White also knows when to reign it in: Braised veal cheeks keep the focus on the succulent meat, and the gelato that accompanies tart lemon pudding carries just a whiff of rosemary.

Hits: Italian fare that's refined and innovative, and yet still leaves you wanting to lick your plate.

Misses: The dining room is so staid, you might start looking for the hidden camera and the announcer from the 1980s Folgers commercials.

07/02/07

Top Flight Italian

by charlesmstam at Citysearch

I went here for lunch the other day and was pleased. The service was competent but not outstanding, but the pasta was the best I've had. The decor is lush. My olive oil dessert cake was very interesting and delicious. This place is worth checking out.

• Pros: Terrifc Pasta, Nice Decor
• Cons: Very Expensive

02/14/07

SO BAD, NEVER AGAIN

by belley at Citysearch

Went to this restaurant based on Adam Platt of the New York Magazine rating it as a top 5 best Italian restaurant in NYC as well as an excellent Zagat's rating. No way close in my opinion.

The starters were great, the goat cheese salad and the polenta with mushrooms. We were so excited about the rest of the dinner. We love Italian food. The pastas were horrible, inedible, so we sent it back. We never send back things but this was just not edible. We chose a seafood pasta and the eel risotto, both were horrible and fishy in a bad way. We sent it back immediately. Took more than 30 minutes for the next course, the highly touted goat which was just mediocre at best; rather salty at best.

The wait staff were nice but not very experienced and sophisticated as one would expect in a top restaurant.

I would not recommend this restaurant at all. Would not give it a second chance.

• Pros: appetizers
• Cons: bad food and mediocre service

02/13/07

Excellent food, service, atmosphere and value

by bootsny at Citysearch

All round great experience as a business meeting place or date atmosphere. Great wine list and knowledgeable sommelier.

01/22/07

If you don't mind waiting

by etabal at Citysearch

We came from out of town to this restaurant based on a recommendation. I made reservations for 8:45pm and confimed them the day before our reservation (1/20/07). We arrived at the restaurant at 8:30 and were told there would be a 15 minute wait.

The entrance is situated right next to the bar, which has very little space. We stood for a bit and then we were able to sit down. The most frustrating thing is that we were seated at 9:45pm after being told numerous times that they were clearing a table for us. (We were told this on 3 different occasions by the same man starting at 9:10).

All in all, once seated, the service was good. It is a terribly tight dining room.

The food was excellent! There was no complaints about the food.

If, when I called, they told me there was no availabilty, i would have tried to come back to this restaurant. Now that I have been, I will not return as having to wait an hour, with a reservation, is no fun. If they could get their seating straightened up, it would be an exceptional restaurant.

• Pros: excellent food
• Cons: waiting to be seated 1 hr after reservation time

09/11/06

Very good food, old (50's and older) crowd

by bpbrody at Citysearch

We were promptly seated... Drinks we quite good... Food was extremely good. Services waned when a table with 10 people were seated. When the food (main) arrived we ordered wine for our meal (would have been nice if asked before meal came instead of having to stare at our food since we had no drinks) then the wine went to the wrong table... Must say though, as I was getting annoyed that I hadn't seen the waiter in a good 35 mins, the manager came and took our dessert order... Finally a very old crowd.

• Pros: Food
• Cons: Service, Old yenta crowd

05/09/06

Ok place

by ur2nite at Citysearch

I visited this place sometime back, we had reservations but was still asked to wait at the bar for a couple of minutes which was fine. The bar is really nice (kind of small though). We were seated by the nice hostess. Our waitress was friendly but very quirky. The food was good. The crowd in this place is a much older mature crowd. Nice place to take your parents. The restaurant itself was kind of loud.

04/23/06

Best Italian I've had in NY

by bauzen at Citysearch

Very upscale restaurant, excelent for a business lunch/dinner. Although it's costly, you get exactly what you pay for. I've come twice, both times for special occasions, and I've yet to be fed a bad dish. I'm a big fan of the pre-fix menu with wine pairing. I believe the menu is different for each day of the week, but from what I've seen, there is always something new and exciting. There isn't much to say about the atmosphere as I found it somewhat average, but the service makes up for it.

• Pros: Notable Italian Food, Excelent Pre-fix Menu, Amazing Wine List
• Cons: VERY Expensive, Boring Atmosphere

11/12/05

Could be better

by park245 at Citysearch

Truly a place for the 50+ crowd. The food was quite nice but i felt out of place in what was an older crowd. The service was OK. Slow and deliberate. If it wasn't for the quality and presentation of the food i would have dissliked the place overall. But the food was teriffic, especially the pasta's. Wine was overpriced and the sommelier was not helpful. A place to bring your parents.

• Pros: pastas, pretty spot
• Cons: older scene

10/03/05

PERFECT!!!

by shnauzerboy at Citysearch

Had been waiting some time to come, it was worth the wait!!! Prix Fix is the way to go. We were a party of four, we each ordered differently and passed aorund, got to try 4 entrees, 4 apps, 4 pastas and we ordered the crab risotto to share. Service was oustanding, food was pefect!! You will not be disappointed!!!