Savona’s Trattoria has been a fixture on the Kingston waterfront for over 10 years. Recently they decided to hop to the other side of the river and bring their Italian cuisine to the former Max’s BBQ space in Red Hook.
At Savonna's you will find classic Italian dishes, based on family recipes, alongside of dishes that offer a more contemporary, modern take on Italian cooking. Owner, Stephen Savona and his family have been serving the Hudson Valley for over 30 years and they get it right, serving delicious food, generous portions at a reasonable price and in warm and friendly environment.
On our first trip we decided to explore the Kingston location. We began our meal with an order of crispy, tender fried calamari. They also offer calamari Arrabiata style which is tossed with cherry peppers, one of our favorites, but since not everyone in our party wanted it that way, the waiter was kind enough to bring the peppers on the side. A special that night were the fried baby artichoke hearts--almost tempura style, served with a tangy lemon aioli.
For dinner, a couple of the hits were the Salmon Limoncello and the Spicy Mussel and Shrimp Pasta. The salmon is one of Savona’s specialties and is encrusted in herbed panko breadcrumbs, a drizzle of Limoncello cream sauce and served on top of spinach risotto. The Mussel and Shrimp pasta has those cherry peppers again, all tossed in a whole-grain mustard cream sauce.
A few weeks later, we tried the newly opened Red Hook location. The menus are pretty much the same, but in Red Hook they’ve updated the old Max’s and added a wood-burning pizza oven. There are several pizzas on the menu or you can customize a pie. We went for the Rucola e Proscuitto Crudo Pizza, which had fresh arugula and prosciutto over a tasty pie with tomato sauce and mozzarella. It was delicious, piping hot, and they were not shy with the topping. Besides the pizzas, the oven turns out the bread sticks that greet you at the beginning of your meal.
We decided to go for a classic pasta that was a special that night—linguini with white clam sauce. Perfectly al dente pasta held a dozen littleneck clams in a light sauce that had just enough garlic. It reminded you of how good this simple pasta can be when it’s made right!
The pasta came with your choice of salad or soup. Since we decided to try the Melted Gorgonzola Steak Salad, we opted for the soup-- pasta fagioli. It was one of the best versions I’ve had in a long time! It had a nice slightly smoky broth with tender beans and pasta that was still al dente. I assume they put the cooked pasta in per order, keeping its integrity and give soup great body.
The sirloin strip steak in the Gorgonzola salad was cooked medium rare as we had ordered it. It sat on top of an assortment of greens, marinated artichokes, roasted red peppers, red onions and olives. There was a pitcher of melted Gorgonzola to pour over the steak, allowing you to indulge to your hearts content.
Portions are all generous. We shared everything between the two of us and took a little of everything home and unfortunately were to full for dessert. We will have to save room next time.
We were there on a Monday night without a reservation and got seated without a problem, but I would suggest booking a table as they fill up quickly.
Both locations are open 7 days a week 11:30-9 except Sundays when they open at noon.
In Kingston
11 Broadway
Kingston, NY
845-339-6800
In Red Hook
7249 Broadway
Red Hook, NY
845-758-6400
