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Try Ramen Carbonara, Deconstructed S'mores at Relaunched UWS Restaurant

By Emily Frost | March 6, 2015 6:57pm | Updated on March 9, 2015 9:05am

UPPER WEST SIDE — The husband-and-wife team behind a local catering company known for its creative cuisine is opening a new restaurant featuring playful takes on everything from ramen noodles to s'mores. 

Stella and Gianluca Ballarini decided to rechristen their West 83rd Street eatery Say Cheese, which they opened in 2012, as Amused to help the restaurant grow up a little.

"Say Cheese attracted all these kids," Gianluca said. "We were a kindergarten cafeteria."

The eatery's proximity to P.S. 9 and the Upper West Success Academy, coupled with its snack-friendly menu, meant Say Cheese was flooded with kids taking over tables for hours-long hangout sessions, he said. 

"And we are more foodies," Gianluca noted. "We decided to create something more upscale."

Amused will open from 6 to 10 p.m. on Friday for dinner and will also serve brunch, lunch and dinner on Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. until 10 p.m., he said.

But grilled cheese fans need not worry; the sandwiches are still part of the new menu, he added. 

Stella, who is executive chef for the restaurant and also the couple's catering business, Scoozi Events, has invented new dinner items that feature fun twists on classics, she said.  

Turning ordinary dinner items into delightful surprises has always been her specialty, and sometimes she spends months perfecting an idea, she said. 

Ballarini decided she'd call her new cocktail — a mix of shochu, blackberries, lime juice, agave and mint — an "elixir."

Equipped with both a label maker and a bottling machine at the back of the restaurant's kitchen, Ballarini created faux prescription bottles that hold the drink mix. The bottle lists symptoms like "boring work days" and "stress," as well as side effects, including "excessive laughter" and "good times." 

The bottle comes paired with a shot of shochu in a small cup complete with dosage lines. The prescription bottle and the medicine cup are then poured over ice and garnished with thyme. 

"It's a conversation starter," she said of the creation. 

Most of the menu items feature twists in either their presentation or ingredients, like the signature ramen carbonara.

The Ballarinis' young daughter Zoe is a big fan of noodles — the kind that come in a Styrofoam cup — and Stella loves pasta carbonara, so she decided to combine the two. 

The savory entree is a mix of ramen noodles, peas, a poached egg, pork belly candied for 12 hours, frizzled herbs and parmesan cheese.

It comes in a custom-made cup that Ballarini designed and manufactured on site, she said. 

General Zoe's Cauliflower is another nod to her daughter, who loves the vegetable, and is a twist on General Tso's Chicken. Instead of chicken, the dish features cauliflower served with a Sriracha glaze and cilantro. 

There's also a new menu of beer cocktails, including a Mother's Milk chocolate beer mixed with vanilla ice cream. 

Amused has even come up with a solution to the messiness of s'mores.

One end of a plastic pipette filled with warm gooey chocolate is stuffed inside a freshly torched marshmallow that's covered in a graham cracker crust. The pipette serves as the utensil for holding the s'more, offering a burst of chocolate when diners take the first bite into the marshmallow.

The couple is hoping the new concept will attract more customers. 

"We wouldn't be in business if we weren't creative," Gianluca said. "We have repeat clients. They get jaded. We constantly change."