Tosca Fresca?

osca is a new restaurant that aims to serve authentic Italian food with an emphasis on fresh market ingredients--in the hopes that fresh and simple combinations will translate into culinary bliss. Located in a swank West Village warehouse, the dining room, along with its chic bar, looks amazingly like a private dining room from a classy loft in NYC's, um, West Village, decorated with clichZd Italian and French product advertisement posters (like the ones in your dorm room).

But, and this is a huge "but," none of what's written above really matters, because you should probably never go there. Seriously. I'm the type of guy who will always find a positive note about a dining experience, but this past Friday night, it was impossible. Let me explain why.

Nothing about Tosca emphasized "fresh," or for that matter, "good Italian food." The basis of great Italian cooking is starting with an excellent olive oil. As I tasted my bread dipped into their putrid yellow-green, blended-oil version, I realized that this oil was better suited to lubricate my car. The oil permeated the entire night--in their vinaigrettes, their sauces, their pastas--thereby effectively ruining the meal.

For appetizers, Tosca offers three salads: a fried calamari dish, a grilled vegetable antipasto and the usual zuppa del giorno. Skip them. The calamari brought back memories of fried foods you ate in your school cafeteria growing up--and it was very, very chewy. The classic basil-mozzarella-tomato salad was indeed blasphemed, thanks to their tired tomatoes and healthy drizzles of "olive" oil. The house salad had great potential, for the fresh mesculin greens paired with crunchy fennel provided an excellent spicy-earthy balance. As expected, the salad was weighed down by too much vinaigrette, preventing these flavors from coming through.

EntrZes? Oh, it gets better. The frutti di mare (linguine with shrimp, scallops and a tomato-basil broth) tasted very fresh--in fact, like fresh, watered-down Chef Boyardee. Their pollo di carciofi, sauteed chicken breasts stuffed with prosciutto di parma, artichokes and ricotta certainly sounded tempting. However, the end result was a plate of dry chicken breasts stuffed with slivers of parma and slices of ricotta reminiscent of Borden sliced cheese. The halibut special was surprisingly well-executed--a sauteed filet topped with a potato-leek-tomato sauce spiced with cumin. It tasted like good Indian food. Unfortunately, it failed to taste like good Italian food.

My companions and I were hopeful that dessert would salvage the evening. Not quite. Their tiramisu had too much mascarpone, and certainly not enough rum. The tartufo, which is essentially a round Klondike bar with hazelnut and chocolate ice-cream, was good, but not worth $5.25.

One positive note: excellent wine list. The Greg Norman Shiraz and Glazebrook Sauvignon blanc were both a hit, and the Franciscan merlot ended with a satisfying dryness.

Bottom line: With the abundance of great restaurants surrounding it--Cafe Parizade, Magnolia Grill, Pop's, Taverna Niko's--Tosca is worth skipping. Also, a bad dinner for four cost $150, including tip and wine. Save the money, skip Tosca and stay away from that olive oil.