You have to practice saying “Tredici Enoteca” about two or three times before it rolls off the tongue with any amount of ease. But take the time to learn the name, because you’re going to want to recommend this place.
Situated directly across from its sister restaurant Zavino, Tredici (means “Thirteen” in Italian), 114 S. 13th St., is a bright space where you can easily co-mingle casual and semiformal sensibilities in a comfortable, stylish wine bar with a menu featuring Italian-inspired tapas and sharable dishes.
Tredici’s wine menu is impressive but its food game is strong too. This restaurant isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel with its menu. Dishes are just done simply and effectively without a lot of extraneous elements complicating things. The tuna crudo ($12) was light and delicate with bright flavors. The fried goat cheese ($9) was rich and decadent with charred tomatoes giving the dish an added pop.
The entrées at Tredici don’t try to impress with massive portions or numerous bells and whistles either. They win you over with great flavors and flawless execution. The three-cheese ravioli ($10) is a prime example. The meticulously presented line of ravioli is dressed with just the right amount of sauce and some basil. But it was easily one of the best pasta dishes we’ve had in recent memory. The flavors were bold for something with such a relaxed and assured presentation. A close second was the lamb reginetti ($15), somewhat more involved with tender braised lamb and mint ricotta widening the palette of flavors, but it still maintains an effective sense of simple elegance. The hangar steak ($18) was another winner, juicy and perfectly cooked with onions, mushrooms and an excellent red-wine reduction.
Welcome to the Gayborhood, Tredici. Please don’t ever leave us.