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Barilla Restaurants

Location
108 West 32nd Street
Neighborhoods
Barilla Restaurants 1 Italian Chelsea Tenderloin

"Is this place the same as the pasta in a box?" According to Mara, the manager at the restaurant on West 32nd Street, this is the most frequently asked question when people pop by Barilla. The answer is a most definite "Yes." From an espresso first thing in the morning to a lunch or dinner comprised of classic meatballs and spaghetti, pasta primavera, beautifully presented tri-colore pizza, paninis, and salads, there is nothing missing on the menu at this all-day "fast casual" restaurant.

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More Italian nearby

Lost Gem
Ulivo 1 Italian undefined

Ulivo

Fabio Camardi - the charming owner both of this restaurant and Mercato on West 39th Street - announced as we walked inside his brand new restaurant that it had taken two years to complete his renovation. He went on to say that he had chosen the location because he is fond of the architecture in the NoMad neighborhood – “architecture is my hobby, ” he told me. “I built this place myself, ” he went on to say, showing me how he had added the beams in the ceiling and created the new floor made of reclaimed red and white oak. When I commented on the furniture filling the restaurant, including tables from a library upstate and an old butcher’s block, Fabio informed me that he has been collecting antiques for years. While continuing to chat about the renovation, Fabio explained that it was slow going due to the fact that the building dates back to 1865 and has achieved landmark status. Therefore, he had to wait for official permits to do any work. When the restaurant opened in April 2016, Fabio was delighted by how friendly the neighborhood was. “They were immediately nice, ” he said. The highlight of visiting Ulivo, aside from Fabio, was seeing the “Pasta Lab. ” Unlike its sister restaurant, Ulivo focuses on pasta, with fifteen different dishes on the menu. Thirteen of those are made with help from an enormous machine that sits in the basement. “It’s the most advanced machine we have in Italy, ” Fabio proudly told me. He turned the machine on and I was able to watch as it created large tubes of rigatoni and then long strings of spaghetti, using a different setting. “The more pasta you make, the better it gets, ” Fabio informed me. Beyond the pasta lab, there was an event space that seats forty, complete with a full bar and a Faema espresso machine from 1949. At the end of the room, I spotted a special door with a porthole that opens onto the beer cooler, and, in the very back, built out of the old coal shaft, I discovered a cave where the liquor is kept. Upstairs, there is a wine cellar encased in glass with a wooden ladder next to the kitchen. I was intrigued by the row of twenty different olive oils sitting on the counter in easy reach of the chefs. Fabio makes sure that each brand is made and bottled in Italy. When I asked which olive oil was the best, he said he could not answer the question. “It’s based on your taste, like wine. ” In the kitchen itself, different meats were hanging across from a wood fire oven on the opposite wall. Along with pasta, Emanuel “Mano” Concas, partner and the chef (whom Fabio refers to as “The George Clooney of Sardinia), cooks “dal forno a legna” in the wood-fire oven. Each plate is created using a cast iron pan placed directly into the oven. Some of the more popular non-pasta dishes are the tail-in branzino and the dry-aged steak. Being familiar with the themes of good Italian cooking, I was not surprised when Fabio told me, “Everything is fresh. ” This is especially true for the restaurant’s “fritture, ” little dishes. These items include fresh octopus, cold cuts, burrata, and fried meatballs with sea salt, a dish that is particularly popular in Sardinia, where the chef is from. There are also two flatbreads on the menu, but Fabio was adamant that Ulivo is not a pizza restaurant. He simply chose the two that they do "best" at Mercato: The San Daniele with prosciutto and arugula and the Regina Margherita. Fabio shared the myth behind the latter: The story goes that Italian chefs decided to put something special before the Queen. Up until that time, pizzas just had sauce, and so they added buffalo mozzarella to make it royal, hence the “Regina. ”If there is a certain nonchalance about Fabio and his attitude toward owning two restaurants in New York, it is probably because he has a lot of experience in this world – he even went to culinary school, which is rare amongst Italians, who often just rest on the fact that they were born into a culture that puts a lot of emphasis on high-quality food. Fabio shared that he owns four restaurants in Italy, which his forty-four cousins help to run. He went on to tell me that he came to the United States in 2004 because he “didn’t like Berlusconi” (the unpopular former Prime Minister of Italy) and that he began his career in New York as a bartender (the cocktail list at Ulivo is his own creation). In addition, there are four local beers on tap, including Smart Beer, which Fabio says is the "first organic beer made in New York. " There is also a substantial bourbon list – “It’s what people want. ”I particularly loved the story of how he met his wife, who is originally from Korea: they were both attending English school. Several years later, they have two adorable children and “She’s my bookkeeper, ” he said with a smile. His wife is also responsible for the beautiful candles and dried flowers throughout the space. Fabio is playing with the idea of opening an Italian restaurant in Korea. He told me that there is no fresh olive oil available in eastern Asia, but that China had recently planted one million olive trees to try to remedy the situation. Olive oil is absolutely essential to Italian cooking, which is why Fabio named his restaurant “Ulivo. ” He stated, “There is no Italian cuisine without olive oil. ”Fabio’s vision for Ulivo is a perfect blend of traditional and modern. Though he uses traditional Italian culinary methods and pasta recipes, he embraces new technology - such as his pasta machine - and trends. When I asked what was next for Fabio, he responded, “I’m full of ideas – there’s a lot of stuff that I want to try and eat. I love to eat! ”

Lost Gem
Cardoncello DiVino 1 Italian undefined

Cardoncello DiVino

“New York is full of a lot of Italian sounding restaurants, but what they do in the kitchen, in the dining room, it’s not true Italian, ” Guiseppina Torno, owner of Cardoncello DiVino shared with Manhattan Sideways during our first encounter. “Real Italian food is tasty but it’s healthy. For example we don’t use any butter, only true Italian cooking. ”Besides its modern take on, and dedication to truly authentic Italian cuisine, their emphatic focus on hospitality sets the restaurant apart from so many others in New York. Our team felt it from the moment we walked in and were greeted with an outpouring of warmth, charisma, and genuine concern for our comfort and experience. This dose of Italian hospitality came in the form of Restaurant Manager and Sommelier, Christian Ferrulli - or what Guieseppina calls “the soul of the place. ”Christian protested at first but then stated passionately, “That’s what we try to do here - to meet people and let them know they have a space where they can come and feel comfortable. It’s not just serving plates of food or taking empty plates back to the kitchen - its about making people feel they’re having a unique experience. We work to make sure everyone is happy before they leave our restaurant. "Though the only reason we could see for a customer leaving unhappy, would be their having an uncommon aversion to the Cardoncello mushroom - the edible fungus that is surrounded by myth and legend and was once banned by the pope. The Cardoncello mushroom inspired the restaurant’s name and takes center stage on the menu. “We wanted to create something that’s a totally different experience from the other places. This is why we are called a modern Osteria. Of course we have our Italian roots, but we offer these special dishes that we do in a modern way. For example if you go to Italy right now, you’ll find a lot of what you’re eating here. But you will never find Fettuccine Alfredo, Chicken Parmigiano, these kinds of dishes are no longer in Italy - they are from our ancient great great grand parents. ” Guiseppina explained. She is a true native and resident of Italy right up until bringing her restaurant concept to New York. However, Guiseppina was not always in the restaurant business. After a twenty-four year career in investment banking in Italy, it was a visit to Christian’s restaurant, while they both still lived in Italy, that made her think, “Wow, it would be nice to have a place exactly like this, but in a little bigger city. I always thought Manhattan was a big challenge and I wanted to take that challenge. ”A challenge that would multiply and shift and present others hurdles throughout the grueling process that can be opening a restaurant in New York. But no challenge was too great. Overcoming all obstacles, the pair have created an oasis in the city. Christian beams, “When people say they felt like they were at home - not only Italians but Americans too - that’s what makes me so proud. We want to make people feel at home. ”

More places on 32nd Street

Lost Gem
Kang Ho Dong Baekjeong 1 Korean undefined

Kang Ho Dong Baekjeong

“We were just voted the best Asian barbecue restaurant in New York, ” said Philip, the general manager of Kang Ho Dong Baekjeong. “We’re getting a lot of buzz these days, because Korean food is very trendy right now. ” And Baekjeong, founded by Korean wrestler and TV personality Kang Ho-dong, is the trendiest of all. It is a favorite hangout of actors and celebrities, and has received high praise from celebrity chefs Anthony Bourdain and David Chang. At Baekjeong (the Korean word for “butcher”), meat is king. But while Korean barbecue traditionally makes use of the second-best cuts of meat, marinating them for flavor, Philip emphasized that Baekjeong uses only the highest-quality meat. “We don’t even marinate it, ” he added. Between the quality of the meat and the reputation of executive chef Deuki Hong, a twenty-five year old prodigy who recently won the 2015 Young Guns Chef award, Baekjeong has become one of the hottest new restaurants in New York. The wait to be seated, Philip told me, is sometimes as long as an hour and a half. By all accounts, it is worth the wait. As customers munch on small starter dishes known as banchan, waiters prepare the meat - mainly beef and pork - on large metal grills set into each table. Another highlight at Baekjeong is dosirak, a traditional Korean children’s lunchbox filled with rice, kimchi, and a fried egg. In the seventies, Philip explained, Korean kids always shook up their metal lunch boxes before eating them, and at Baekjeong - which aims for a “1970s industrial Korea feel” - customers are encouraged to do the same. But Philip emphasized that guests who do not know much about Korean food should not be worried. The waiters, who all speak English and Korean, “make sure to cater to customers who don’t know what’s going on. ” For the most part, though, the Chinese tourists and Americans who make up most of Baekjeong’s clientele (“Koreans don’t like to wait in line, ”) do know what is going on. “No one just walks in off the street, ” Philip told me. “The kind of people who come here are in the know. ”