Off the Menu
The menu for this trattoria stretches the boundaries of Italy’s boot.
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Opening
Borgo
A pair of spacious dining rooms, a working fireplace and a garden lured Andrew Tarlow, known for his Brooklyn restaurants, a bakery and other ventures, to settle his first Manhattan restaurant in what had been I Trulli. Its interior is lighter now, with paler wood finishes for a rustic but urban look. Mr. Tarlow and the executive chef, Jordan Frosolone, have created a menu for this trattoria that stretches the boundaries of Italy’s boot somewhat. They dress the chicory salad with Cabot Cheddar, and sneak sunchokes into the mushroom ravioli. But there are still chicken liver crostini, marinated artichokes with buffalo mozzarella, wood oven chicken with Marsala and fennel sausage with Umbrian lentils.
124 East 27th Street, borgonyc.com.
Gus and Marty’s
Everything egg, as in Egg Shop in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and NoLIta, has spun off an everything Greek place. Sarah Schneider and Demetri Makoulis, the owners of both spots, have named this one after their fathers. A front bar area leads past the open kitchen to the dining room done in limestone and wood with blue accents. The menu is what you’ll find in most Greek spots but is enlivened with olive oil from the Makoulis farm near Athens, and uncommon notes, like mizuna in a salad, crispy anchovies, and hen-of-the-woods mushrooms in a small gyro. (Friday)
232 North 12th Street (Driggs Avenue), Williamsburg, Brooklyn, 929-745-2806, gusandmartys.com.
Ishq
Slow-cooked goat meat on the bone with gravy and fried onions, or, to pre-order for a party of four, a whole baby goat leg with roti, lentils and other sides, are two of the specialties at this Indian restaurant. There are dishes of pulled venison with flaky parotta; paneer luang latta, a layered dish stuffed with nuts and Indian cheese; and fresh morels done Himalayan style with tomato and onion. The chef and co-owner, Vamshi Adi, is also the chef and an owner of Gazab on the Lower East Side where vegetables dominate.
202 Avenue A (13th Street), 646-559-4747, ishq.nyc.
Cora
This Lilliputian wine bar with barely 20 seats indoors (and as many in the garden) has replaced Silver Apricot. The same owners, Emmeline Zhao, Joseph Bliffen and Janice Sung, also the team behind Figure Eight next door, feature wines from North America. Their food keeps to the region with tilefish crudo, crispy rice with little neck clams and sour corn, trout Milanese, and local cheese with grilled grapes.
20 Cornelia Street (Bleecker Street), coranyc.com.
Alessa
A pair of domed golden pizza ovens are stationed near the entrance to this glittering 450-seat, two-story behemoth in what is now called the Penn District. Securing a table should not be a challenge. The Italian menu offers familiar fare.
237 West 35th Street, 929-532-2552, alessanyc.com.
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