For Great Italian Food in NYC try: Da Umberto Felidia Il Mulino Parioli Romanissimo San Domenico

It's always an eerie experience to enter a restaurant in the early morning before service begins. At 9:30 am, the atmosphere at San Domenico is part sophisticated New York Italian restaurant, and part ghost town, with leather chairs stacked upside down on unclothed tables, the cappuccino maker quiet, and the ice bins behind the bar empty. The air, instead of being redolent with the perfume of freshly grated Parmigianio-Reggiano atop warm pasta, smells vaguely like a washed-out ashtray: clean, but with the lingering memory of someone else's cigar. However, the mood immediately lightens when head chef Odette Fada (32) bounds into the room. Slim and sprightly, she is clad in a whimsical interpretation of chefs whites, her pants printed with chile peppers of every hue: purple, green, gold, and red. She shakes my hand and offers me a cup of strong, black coffee, which she calls her personal version of the American brew. To this the drink bears little resemblance, but it is rich with the flavor of espresso beans.

Odette took over the kitchen at San Domenico only four months ago, after spending four years at Los Angeles acclaimed Rex II Ristorante. Although it is clear that she feels a bit bewildered by the vastness of her new city, this is not at all evident in her cooking, which is loaded with bright, Mediterranean flavors stirred together with a strong, confident hand. On last look, her seasonal offerings included a fricassee of baby goat with asparagus, a refined duck confit with lamb's lettuce and plum tomatoes, and a baby octopus salad with celery.

M.C.: What made you leave Los Angeles, and how do you like New York?

O.F.: I left L.A. because Mr. May offered me a job in New York, which is really the food capital of the world. I like it here. In Los Angeles, the people are not so adventurous, maybe because they have less opportunity to eat really great food. In New York you have so many great restaurants --in L.A. there are only a few. But that makes it more of a challenge, since here you have to perform at your best all the time, just to keep up.

M.C.: Do you feel ready to be reviewed by the major New York press?

O.F.: I don't think I'm ever ready...maybe one night things will go great, and I think, "okay, that's it, I've got it." Then the next day, even with less customers, maybe something is off, something intangible. I don't know what it means to be ready to be reviewed. I just try to do my best every night.

M.C.: If you were to open your own place, what sort of restaurant would you want, and where would you open it?

O.F.: What I would like is not what the business could support: an upscale restaurant with only a few seats...very elegant. But I know such a place would not survive, so I have to think about something that is more casual. As for where, I would like to be in Italy. I miss Italy, I love Italy, I want to be in Italy, but here is where the opportunity is, the chance to get recognized. And, right now in Italy, it's so difficult politically and economically. We'll see in five or ten years. Maybe then I would open a small place in northern Italy because that's where I'm from.

M.C.: I know that San Domenico attracts many Europeans. How do the Italians respond to your cooking?

O.F.: They like it, you know, because it is truly Italian. I use Italian cheeses, Italian olive oil, Italian wines, Italian octopus. We even make our own pasta with Italian flour. I would like to find some Italian tomatoes. I've tried five different kinds of tomatoes, but I can't find the right ones.

M.C.: Since you've moved to New York, have you had the chance to dine in any of the city's renown eateries?

O.F.: I really do need to go out to other restaurants. But you know, it's bad, because since I am Italian, and I work in an Italian restaurant, I just don't want to go for Italian food. I know that that's stupid because I have to know what's happening in other Italian restaurants in this city, but if someone gives me a choice, I would rather go for sushi.