Basilio Inn is on Staten Island, spitting distance from the Verrazzano Bridge. On a dead end. With a grass / dirt parking lot. And it has been there forever (website describes them as the oldest restaurant on Staten Island, 100 years old as of my visit in May 2021). If there is a joint that merits the whole RJG in the 5 boroughs, this may actually be IT.
My visit was at the suggestion of my guest, Abigail, who I have known for 20-some years and knows my loathing of all things Olive Garden and my relish of all things mama-papa. She described it to me as, "really old", with a dash of 'dead-end street' and 'gravel lot'. She also informed me that Staten Island is the "largest Italian city outside Italy" - something that I have no desire to fact check but will take on faith. Other positive indicators: no web reservations, closed Monday, and had to wait for noon Tuesday when they reopen to call and verbally get a reservation.
We've had false positives before (RJG and I were truly buffaloed once outside Trenton NJ (ed: a true story - Feb 1999 in fact)), so I try to keep my expectations tempered when going someplace like Basilio. But all the signs look positive.
I arrived early, partly anticipation, but a pleasant surprise in not having bad traffic from my location near the Meadowlands across the Goethals to SI. There were some good articles on the wall, and I found myself wondering what I might get for dinner. Was hungry but not starving.
Got seated, took in the wine list and perused the menu, made no decisions. My guest arrived and we ordered a bottle of wine per the waiter (a Primitivo, not bad), we chatted while tasting and ordered a Fritto Misto to begin (her recommendation, I followed gladly). Not a dish I have ordered, we found a sizable plate of lightly breaded & fried seafood (mini-octopi, calamari, some shrimpies, possibly some little chiclets of scallop, a scattering of carrot and zucchini shavings, with a nice red sauce). We did not finish it by the time our dinner arrived (a bit earlier than I would have preferred, but no big deal) and Abigail subsequently took much of it and half her entrée home for her next day's lunch.
Debated on a salad: I generally have one even if I don't need it. But opted to pass tonight for some reason (likely the Fritto Misto). If I had been leaning the other way, I probably would have gone for caprese.
Abigail immediately ordered her favorite item: Veal Basilio. I opted to follow and order the same thing. When in Rome, right?
Dinner came as previously noted a bit earlier than I would have preferred. It was a veal cutlet, pounded somewhat thin (but not paper-thin), sautéed with a very light, white wine sauce with onions, cabbage, some garlic and potatoes. Maybe carrots? Don't recall. There was a small amount of mozz on it - not smothered, just a slab here and there, melted. Probably fresh mozz but hard to say for sure when used in cooking. Veal was tender - cut with a fork, as were the sautéed vegetables. Delicious! And no pasta (in case this had not already been gleaned from the list of ingredients - I briefly had a flashback to the opening scene of The Big Night).
Menu was a 1-page thing that looks to be typewritten. Almost no descriptions or list of ingredients. But some of the other intriguing items include: pork chop parmesan, pappardelle veal ragu, duck breast in fig sauce, ossobuco. Incidentally, only 2 dishes - both branzini's - are listed over $25, and all wines were in the 30-75 range if memory serves.
No dessert or coffee afterwards; Abigail took the leftover food, I departed with last glass +/- in the bottle of wine.
Truly an excellent place that I will visit again on the next possible occasion. It made me hungry again to write this 2 days later!
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