Tucci has been the city’s most popular new Italian restaurant for many months.
Beautifully built on fine 19th-century bones, this is the first place you can compete with bold carbon for less than its infamous hot spot.
Tucci (or TUCCI as they stylized the name) doesn’t have a rock star chef like Mario Carbone in the kitchen, but they do have a very good one in Ed Hong.
But what really sets Tucci apart is co-owner Max Tucci’s design sense and hospitality wizardry.
He fills the space with witty Tuscan touches, such as Gucci’s “tiger leaf” wallpaper in the bathroom.
“[They’re] “It’s a popular spot for selfies, like the Polo Bar,” Tucci said of his bathroom.
The relationship between Tucci and Gucci is no joke. The fashion house is headquartered in Florence, Italy, which is also Tucci’s ancestral home.
Located at the Noho corner of Broadway and Bleecker, he conveyed the spirit of a central Italian villa with the help of the building’s original underground brick and stone walls and archways.
They used to belong to Pfaffs, a Rathskeller-like underground restaurant located in the hotel next door. This restaurant was known as an unusual gay-friendly establishment in the mid-1800s and was a favorite drinking hole of the great American poet Walt his Whitman.
“Part of the downstairs dining area is actually under the sidewalk,” Tucci said. Many first-time customers “don’t even know the bar exists until they ask if they’d like to hang out at the bar downstairs until their table is ready.” ask for it. ”
The more adult-oriented first floor features floor-to-ceiling windows with handcrafted banquettes and velvet curtains. White tablecloths on both floors feature happy locals, Whoopi Goldberg, Ethan Hawke, Sandra Lee, pop culture chronicler Nicky Haskell, Yankees relief pitcher Dennis Santana, and fashion designers. It helps to dampen the noise of bold faces such as Zang Toi. Legendary music producer Clive Davis celebrated his 92nd birthday and Passover on separate nights with producer and philanthropist Candy Spelling.
The menu features comforting dishes that combine favorites from southern and northern Italy with lean, saucy Italian-American dishes.
There’s no $85 veal parm like at Carbone’s, but there’s a succulent 14-ounce veal marsala ($64) with portobello and chicken of the woods mushrooms and a house-made juice rich with herbs and spices .
Hong is good at cooking with tomato sauce, especially the marinara ($27 but enough for two), mixed with Calabrian chile paste and served over the best meatballs in town.
However, my favorite pasta was a completely different color. Agnolotti stuffed with robiola cheese and fresh peas and drizzled with corn and butter sauce ($33). A friend of mine described this as “a preview of summer on a plate.”
This 100-seat trattoria is the “sister restaurant” to FiDi’s new landmark, Delmonico’s.
Hong is also the chef there, and Tucci is the author of a best-selling book about the history and recipes of this iconic steak restaurant.
However, the Italian’s arrival did not receive media attention until a few days before the opening in March, unlike the highly publicized case of Delmonico a year ago.
Tucci and co-owner Dennis Turcinovich said they were too busy preparing to open the steakhouse to worry about promoting the trattoria.
But once they fell in love with the space, “the momentum just happened,” he said.
That momentum is now on display every night.
