J. Dominick's Trattoria

     Among some of my friends in New York, "red sauce" Italian food is, well, a bit of a joke.  "It's not authentic!  No one in Italy eats that!".  "It's too heavy!"  "It's too greasy!"  "It's fine to feed your kids, but it's not a real cuisine!"

     It sure tastes good to me.  Although I admit that it's getting harder and harder to find good Italian food, at a reasonable price.  From over-cooked pasta, to mushy parm, and, of course, marinara sauce laden with sugar, most of these places deserve the bad reputation they're getting.

   And then there's J. Dominick's Trattoria.  This place opened a few years ago on Route 44, just outside of Poughkeepsie.  We stopped by one Saturday night a while ago and were shocked to be told that it was already booked for the night.  Most restaurants in the area were struggling.  So a few weeks later, we made a reservation for dinner with a friend.  We've been back about a dozen times since then, and our friends from the city want to come up just to have dinner here.  (Apologies in advance for the poor photos.)

    A glass of wine to start?

 

    The food is terrific.  All of my fond memories of eating Italian food as a kid are wrapped up and served here.  They start you with a plate of home made dinner rolls, warm out of the oven, served with whipped butter and marinated vegetables.  Try not to eat too many.

   We've had a bunch of the appetizers in our many visits.  Don't miss the hot and spicy shrimp, served in a vinegary cherry pepper and tomato sauce with lots of butter.  (And feel free to ask for the hot and spicy shrimp over pasta for your entree.)

The fried calamari is as good as you're going to find anywhere.  If they have the stuffed artichoke on the menu -- go for it.  We got a softball sized artichoke, liberally covered with breadcrumbs and butter.  Wonderful stuff.

     Moving on.  If you like veal or chicken parmigiana, this is the place to get it.

On the lighter side, broiled seafood plate:

Scampi over pasta:

And the stunner of the evening, zuppa de pesce.  I'm telling you, it could feed a family of four:

My main complaint about the food is that the pasta is often over-cooked.  Not badly, but it's not the al dente that it should be.

I can also recommend the pork chops (ask for them to be cooked medium), and the lemon cake for dessert.

J. Dominick's Trattoria
779 Dutchess Turnpike
Poughkeepsie, NY 12603
(845) 486-9400