Tessa, Upper West Side, NYC

Many restaurants offer small plates, but as a reviewer I often get perfectly sized tasting plates so that I can have room to sample much of the menu, as I did at Tessa recently!

Tessa — another Upper West Side restaurant worth the trip — offers modern Mediterranean offerings served with style and a smile.

To accompany our tastings, we ordered Viura, Abando DOC 2013, a white Rioja, full, fresh and rounded with had an intense finish ($55).

Some appetite pleasers to start with include their signature housemade dips (carrot harissa topped with lemon confit, smoked eggplant topped with fried garlic and whipped ricotta topped with cucumber and dill) with thin spicy lavash bread ($10); blistered, espelette pepper-seasoned shishito peppers in a lemony oil ($8); moist and tender Colorado-pasture-raised lamb, pancetta and beef meatballs in a tomato sauce topped with a Parmigiano crisp ($14); the Mediterranean chermoula-seasoned fried cauliflower over yogurt and jalapeño ($14); and a la plancha grilled red-wine marinated octopus served over a diced winter squash caponata with a dollop of pureed green olive tapenade on frisée drizzled with an herbed vinaigrette ($18). I could have easily made a meal out of these not-to-be-missed starters.

Also not to be missed are their luxurious, yet pure comfort food housemade pastas. Our wonderful server explained that in their version of cacio de pepe, they first cook the linguini in a Pecorino sauce, then add more Pecorino, aged Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and a little ricotta, season with Tasmanian and regular black peppers and finish it by topping with crunchy dehydrated Parmigiano cheese and basil ($13/19). Also worth the trip is the rich rabbit and pancetta ragu with smoked onions, a lovage coulis and chives ($19/29).

For entrees, I’d recommend the moist Sasso half-chicken ($29), cooked under a brick to crisp the skin, with maitake mushrooms, crushed fingerling potatoes finished with a gremolata of parsley, garlic, and lemon, and the lighter grilled branzino atop a fennel emulsion with broccoli rabe ($31).

Although all were good, my favorite of the sides ($9 each) by a long shot is the creamy stone-ground polenta topped with a runny farm egg, chives and Parmigiano Reggiano shreds. Pure comfort! Also good are the asparagus also cooked a la plancha, the shaved Brussels sprouts with pancetta and caramelized onions; the garlicky broccoli rabe and the fries with rosemary salt!

We hadn’t planned on ordering dessert as we were — as you can imagine — quite full, but our friendly host served us each a sampler plate with two of their offerings including, the layered lemon cake with lemon curd, pistachio zabaglione and blueberry yogurt sherbet and the rich the salted caramel mousse with hazelnut ice cream and coconut chocolate chantilly. Then we finished with a trio of sorbet/ice creams. Where is a wheelbarrow when you need one?