December 01, 2008
L'Art Opening
Italian Comfort Food in the West Village
You know your way around a bar. In fact, that may be the understatement of the century.
So we thought we'd point you in the direction of a new restaurant filled to the brim with bars (a brilliant notion), each serving you a single delicacy. L'Artusi, brought to you by the gents behind Dell'Anima, opens in the West Village tomorrow.
At first glance, L'Artusi is a breezy, simple, light-filled townhouse of an Italian restaurant—which means you could certainly bring a date, settle in the sky-lit upstairs dining room and while away the evening on Valpolicella and Braised Calf Belly.
But upon further inspection (by your trained, bar-loving eye), you'll treat yourself to a different type of experience, an upscale Italian pub-crawl of sorts (subtract tequila shots, add Limoncello shooters). The main room is set up perfectly as a succession of white marble bars: Your first stop is the booze bar where you'll get your hands on a glass of vino and keep moving toward the next slab, this time digging in to some aged parmesan at the cheese bar (expertly curated by a Casellula vet).
By the time you get to the crudo bar (and snack on some hamachi in the process) facing a massive open kitchen, you'll be ready for something a little heartier (try the Wagyu Tongue and some Pizzocheri pasta) before closing out the evening.
And by closing out the evening, we mean more Limoncello...
