Italian restaurant Talina opens in Babylon
Strozzapreti Gratinato, hand rolled pasta twists in a sausage ragu with arugula at Talina in Babylon. Credit: Newsday/Marie Elena Martinez
Fresh pasta is the star at Talina, a new restaurant in Babylon Village focused on the flavors of Romagna, the southeastern portion of Emilia-Romagna on Italy's Adriatic coast.
Named after co-owner Pietro Faetanini's late grandmother, a pasta-making Nonna back in her native Italy, Talina brings more regional Italian cuisine to Long Island, in partnership with Massimiliano Gargiulo, whose former Molto Pizza last occupied the space. Partners in business as well as in life, Faetanini and chef Brittany Middlemiss renovated the space to create a menu "with food from the area he comes from," Gargiulo said.
Start with warm piadina bread, native to the region, stuffed with prosciutto, cheese (nutty Fontina or creamy Stracchino) and mushrooms or arugula ($18). There are two salads and a hearty, regional bean dish with pancetta and rosemary, Then onto the pastas: Strozzapreti, a long, lean pasta, is rolled and twisted by hand and served with sausage ragu and arugula or speck (smoked prosciutto), spinach and cream ($26). Potato gnocchi is doused with Taleggio cheese, arugula and radicchio ($24); hand-stuffed spinach ravioli shines bright red covered in a chunky, flavorful Pomodoro sauce ($24), while a tagliatelle is enhanced by Nonna Talina’s meaty pork, beef and peas ragu ($27).
Succulent, grilled meat boards come in three sizes ($45-$120), and include lamb chops, pork ribs and Babylon Meat Market sausage accompanied by all of the veggie sides on offer (eggplant, tomato and onion gratin, grilled zucchini sliced into ribbons, and crispy, fragrant roasted rosemary potatoes). There is a turkey cutlet ($27), supplemented by a changing roster of nightly specials. Desserts include red-wine soaked pears and a chocolate espresso mousse ($12).
Complementing Middlemiss’ food — part Italian heritage, part formal culinary training — Faetanini’s lush cocktail bar, churns out gorgeous creations like the recent peanut butter and jelly espresso martini ($19). Having spent time as a mixologist at both Molto Vino and Michelangelo’s Wine Bar in Massapequa Park, Faetanini smokes his drinks and makes his own syrups, resulting is both visual and culinary art.
With only 15 tables and bar seating, Talina is a cozy escape that feels more reminiscent of Italy than Babylon.
"We wanted to create a restaurant where Pietro felt like he’s at home, only in Babylon. He has no family here and had three restaurants in Romagna, and this feels like we achieved that," Middlemiss said.
To that end, the back of the restaurant features a mural of Faetanini’s Nonna, Talina, wielding her pasta roller, many of which are also arranged in an installation hanging from the ceiling. All of the other trinkets displayed are Romagna-inspired; linens and baskets are imported, and design elements were created by friends of the couple back in Romagna.
Talina, 376 Deer Park Rd., Babylon, 631-572-7987; Open Sunday through Thursday from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays from 4 p.m. to midnight; closed Monday.
A global freelancer who has checked her suitcase to raise her young daughter on her native Long Island, Marie Elena will always make time for good mezcal, even better tacos and killer conversation. Preferably, in a corner bar seat. She can be found on Instagram at @mariesworldeats.
