January 6, 2009 |
Short Order
Guiseppe Bruno, who tends his 25-year-old Sistina with a notoriously fierce perfectionism, plans to open Caravaggio in May at Coco Pazzo, where Pino Luongo once indulged music world glitterati and self-entitled A-listers. Luongo gave up the ghost at 23 East 74th last summer in a dispute with the landlord – and ghostly it was – desperately in need of a total revamp, he says. Bruni has recruited Cosimo, youngest of his three brothers who run San Pietro in midtown, to learn the drill at Sistina freeing him to nurse the new baby. “The room is a jewel,” Bruno says. “Do you remember that ceiling?” Artist Donald Baechler and architect Pietro Cicognani will do the rehab. Tired of people asking “Is your food north Italian or South Italian?” Bruno plans to serve his favorite foods from everywhere in Italy. “I love Milanese food but I am from the Amalfi cost. Calf’s liver Veneziana can be great if presented the right way.”
He’s importing two chefs from the Boot, one from the North, one from the South, and a pastry cook from Sicily. Caravaggio will be less expensive than Sistena with, guess what? small plates. “People up here don’t want to eat a lot,” he says. Bruno is not daunted by the economic slump. “I got a good deal from the landlord and a 15 year lease. The board turned down two people before me. They seem happy with me. I have the Golden Apple, you know.” That’s the Health Department's medal of honor for passing two inspections in a row without a single violation. “You can shave using my pots as a mirror, I keep them so clean,” he boasts.
Click here for short order archive.