Both are great accompaniments to the crusty Italian bread served with meals. So often soggy elsewhere, bruschetta is expertly assembled here on toasted, garlic-rubbed bread piled with tomatoes tossed in garlic, olive oil and basil, even if the tomatoes suffered from winter paleness. La Scarola's version of pasta and fagioli is among the city's best. Thickened by the natural starch from white beans and tiny pasta tubes, the pancetta-flecked chowder makes an ideal cold weather lunch. Pasta Vesuvio is exuberant.
Linguine comes smothered in sauteed chicken and mushrooms moistened by a buttery white wine sauce.
Linguine with sausage comes with the tangy house marinara and four large pieces of charred, fennel-flavored Italian sausage. Veal dishes, a house specialty, are impressive. Veal Monselli comes pounded and tenderly sauteed under a mushroom and zucchini-rich sherry sauce. If you've got room, try the surprisingly light cannoli, fried and filled with sweet custard and rolled in pistachio chips. Note that food portions at La Scarola are shockingly huge.