Weekly Column

November 14, 2003

HO-HUM

The best thing about Moda, positioned in the rear lobby of the Flatotel is that it’s in the vicinity of the Theatre District. We found the surroundings (softly lighted booths, banquettes, floral arrangements), and modern Italian menu interesting but curiously contrived, from the sweet Moda salad of bananas, apples, fried calamari, greens and cashews to the helter-skelter antipasto tossed into a undistinguishable mound of meats and salad, or the searingly spicy pairing of scampi and calamari. An excellent dish here is fried scallops on a bed of spaghetti squash cake. Pasta’s are okay, but gnocchi is not one of them, being so leaden you need a forklift to lift a forkful. Try the savory Nero fettuccine instead. This munificence can be shared with tasteless stale rolls.

Moda, Flatotel, 135 W. 52 St., NY.(212) 887-9475. B-L-D daily. D-ent. $18-28. Acc. res., Maj. cc.