Italian-American seafood in spicy red sauce has been a grail for me since childhood. At some restaurants these dishes are branded "alla arrabbiata"; they're made "angry" with chile peppers that are cooked with tomatoes and garlic in olive oil. Other restaurants apply the name "fra diavolo," or "brother devil," to a loose confederation of spicy recipes. Park Side serves dishes under both names, but it was a family-style plate of scungilli and calamari ($23.95) in a "hot marinara" sauce that came closest to my ideal.
Also shown: the well-larded bread basket. I don't recall what was left, at the end of our meal, for sopping up sauce.
Park Side Restaurant
107-01 Corona Ave. (at 51st Ave.), Corona, Queens
718-271-9274
www.ParkSideRestaurantNY.com
