Fresh Spin on Italian From Civico 1845 Arrives in Little Italy

Last night, Little Italy got its taste of a fresh new Italian option as Civico 1845 embarked on its debut dinner service at 1845 India Street.

The former Zia's Bistro was remodeled by its new proprietors, brothers Dario and Pietro Gallo, into a lighter and brighter space, with a large eating bar and a rustic dining room backed by a wall hung with vintage cooking tools. Now serving lunch and dinner, the menu from head chef Alfonso Pisacane employs housemade and seasonal ingredients in its repertoire of traditional and modern Italian cuisine. Antipasti ranges from housemade Kurobota pork sausage served with rapini to heirloom tomatoes and burrata seasoned with black lava salt and balsamic; from the housemade pasta section, there's linguini with mussels, clams, calamari and shrimp, ziti with slow-roasted zucchini and crispy pancetta and ricotta dumplings with homemade fennel sausage and truffles. Mains include scallops with Meyer lemon and black garlic gnocchi, grilled prawns with lemon and arugula and filet mignon with roasted potatoes, escarole and an Amarena cherry sauce. Civico's housemade dessert menu features a limoncello custard cake, homemade cannoli and Italian doughnuts, called zeppoli, filled with vanilla cream.

Co-owner Pietro Gallo is vegan, so the restaurant also features a good number of vegan options, from fried oyster mushrooms with arriabiata sauce to lasagna made with seitan ragout and vegan cheese, escarole pie topped with olives and capers and a vegan version of tiramisu.