You, too, can practice saying it (Ooo-MA-me), but you're more likely to get a pile of "Yo' Mommy's" meatballs than a whiff of umami at the red-gravy stalwarts of Bella Vista. Ask at your own risk.
The five-month-old James, however, all done up in sleek muted green, espresso-colored wood tables, and pale suede horseshoe banquettes, is much more than just an exercise in modern pretense for the old neighborhood.
James is one of the most exciting new restaurants I've encountered this year, with its palpable sense of personal style and fine-dining passion, and a crisp contemporary vision for how the best ingredients can be shaped by authentic Italian inspirations.
Seared tails of sweet langostinos perch against fresh dollops of warm ricotta cheese, then get scattered with grapefruit segments that add a ruby squirt of tart juice. A bowl of risotto alla Kristina, its naturally creamy gravy bright with sparkling prosecco, offers up a trove of whole oysters so tender they seem to be just a warm breath past raw.
And who could resist the sheer ribbons of handmade pappardelle that come beneath a soulful ragu of duck tinted with bittersweet chocolate? The pairing of cocoa and quack-quack is a brilliant surprise, and chef Jim Burke knows how to let it shine, swirling chunks of bittersweet into the warm, pure stew, then shaving more chocolate tableside like some heavenly dark cheese.
One might expect some impressive Italian moves from Burke, 34. He was Vetri's sous-chef before heading to work in northern Italy for two years with wife, Kristina, 33, also a cook, who co-owns James and runs the front of the house.
