Profile

If you're wandering through Greenpoint's bleak, Eastern European-looking streets and want a break from pierogies, white borscht and the handful of Thai restaurants along Manhattan Avenue, Divine Follie offers a quick Italian fix. Charcoal cityscapes and dark wood French doors that open toward the street lend a Mediterranean charm to the sparse room, whose rear view to the dingy kitchen is small setback. The Ecuadorian chef and owner learned his trade from working in an Italian restaurant for nearly two decades before opening up his own humble digs in Little Poland, and the results from the kitchen are mixed. Mussels sautéed in white wine, tomato and garlic are supple and buttery, but the salad is off-peak with tough arugula and mealy pears. Light and flavorful, the Tower Follie—sliced and roasted portobello mushrooms layered with roasted red peppers and tomato, topped with melted mozzarella and basil pesto—is a meaty, winterized version of a salad Caprese. While the fusilli with sweet sausage wouldn't stack up to more authentic trattorias in the city, the veal scallopini, covered in sautéed mushrooms and parmesan, could best an Italian mama's recipe.

Mussels, $8; Tower Follie, $7; veal scallopini, $14