Fall Cocktails and Black Ink Pasta at LaRina Pastificio & Vino

If you haven’t been to Brooklyn’s LaRina Pastificio & Vino yet, it’s time to check it out. We recently stopped by to taste the drinks on their new cocktail menu, and sampled some of the pastas from chef and partner Silvia Barban, too.

With a menu made for sharing – Barban explains that eating pasta the right way can actually be a health habit – there are lots of choices from the vast selection of cocktails and wine which can be enjoyed on LaRina’s back patio (at least for the next few weeks!).

The drinks are often simple but creative, refreshing and complimentary to the food, including the Il Biondo, a riff on the classic Negroni, and the El Centenario with reposado tequila, chili-infused cacao liqueur, marsala and lemon.

As far as food, the Black Ink Bucatini with anchovy, scallion-lemon butter and breadcrumbs is not to be missed.

Barban and co-owner Giulia Pelliccioni – whose family owned a restaurant in Italy – have brought rustic Italian wining and dining to Fort Greene with their daily fresh made pasta.

“I knew I wanted my life [to center] around food and travel,” explains Pelliccioni.

At home chefs, get excited: they also have an in-house pasta shop with homemade offerings that you can take home with you.

The Cocktails

But more about the drinks. Most of the cocktails on the menu are versions of Negronis and Spritzes.

“I wanted to give the drink list a deeper Italian sense by basing the drinks on lower proof spirits so that they are meant to be drank as aperitifs,” explains Pelliccioni. “The ideas came about by playing around a lot with some old and classic items such as Campari and some new stuff like Don Ciccio e Figli products, which are made in Washington DC, but always basing the cocktails on classic recipes.”

Some of our favorites, below.

Il Biondo

Ingredients: Tanquery 10, Mancino Bianco vermouth and Campari

Il Vecchio

Ingredients: Bar Hill barrel aged gin, Alesso Vermouth chinato – gran classico

La Fumosa

Ingredients: Verbena-infused mezcal, Cynar, Vergano americano

El Centenario

Ingredients: Reposado tequila, chili-infused cacao liqueur, madeira and lemon

The Food

Black Ink Bucatini with Cantabrico anchovies, scallion lemon butter and breadcrumbs.

All of the pasta is handmade in the restaurant on a daily basis.

LaRina Pastificio & Vino Details

Hours of Operation

Dinner: Monday through Thursday from 5-10:30pm, Friday from 5-11pm, Saturday from 4-11pm, Sunday from 4-10:30pm.

Lunch: Wednesday through Friday from noon til 4pm.

Brunch: Saturday and Sunday from 11am – 4pm.