Fortina restaurant Armonk opens with a bang

Fortina restaurant Armonk looks like a big hit and a real game changer for downtown Armonk. Fortina is a big, bold, well executed night spot that completes the transformation of Armonk into a destination dining town that began with the opening of the Moderne Barn, Restaurant North, Marc Charles Steakhouse, Made In Asia and the renovation of the Beehive and Opus 465 in recent years.

Chef Christian Petroni, formerly of Peniche in White Plains, describes his on-point décor as “cantina meets modern industrial.” He calls his shareable menu, “straightforward Italian cooked in wood fired ovens” imported from Naples. It starts with Fortina’s pride and joy, a short list of pizzas and a cold beer. Plus, simple wood roasted entrees, a la carte proteins, pasta, antipasti, salads and a “serious salumi-fromagi program.”

When we were there we met with partners Petroni, Rob Krauss and John Nealon, three young guys fully extended, who clearly have dumped all their cash and dreams into every aspect of the restaurant from the décor to the menu to their playlists that they publish on Spotify.

The cavernous bar and dining area has all the elements that are sure to capture a lively bar and dining crowd – white matte subway tiles, barn wood walls, exposed duct work, sturdy chairs made of wood from French wine barrels, and over the bar turkey feeders turned into lighting fixtures. De rigeur.

A state of the art stereo system distributed sound discreetly throughout the space and the eclectic playlist ranged from Dylan’s “Positively Fourth Street” to The Turtles “Happy Together.” We were.

Their wine list included over 80 bottles and wines by the glass – mostly from Italy with a sampling of vintages from Spain, France and California. On tap or in bottles over 40 craft beers and sparkling ciders with a depth of pilsners, ales, IPAs, and stouts from the Iron City, Adjunct Lager for $6 to the Middle Ages, Druid Fluid at $27 a pour.

We liked the wood roasted spicy olives, crispy squid and the fried meatballs that were beautifully plated in a red sauce and snow capped with a righteous grate of Parmigiano reggiano. They say that pizza without a few burn marks is not cooked. (Okay, we say that.) Nonetheless, the wood fired margherita we were served had all the requisite blackened crust of good wood oven ‘za.

The stand out of the night was the half roasted chicken, served a la carte, that was moist on the inside, properly crisped on the outside and reminiscent in its simple preparation and subtle flavors of a meal we had at the Locanda Dell’Isola Comacina on an island in Lago di Como. We also liked the spaghetti with sesame, butter, pecorino, lemon and black pepper and the wood-fired pacheri “a la vodka” with veal meatballs, a pasta dish finished in the wood oven that came in a cast iron skillet. (Fortina restaurant Armonk, 17 Maple Ave., Armonk, 914.273.0900; www.fortinapizza.com)

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