Postcard from Sag Harbor: Insatiable Reporter Sylvie Bigar at Tutto Il Giorno

May 29, 2008

 
Chef Marfoglia’s green apple-ricotta ravioli alongside mellow lamb ragu.

        Friday of Memorial Day Weekend.  Traffic is already snaking to a crawl.  So soon. What will it be like by the Fourth of July?  The farm stands, crowded with homesteaders stocking up on staples boast luxury edibles but little that’s local. The Hamptons sizzle. And on Bay Street in Sag Harbor, Donna Karan and daughter Gaby Karan De Felice are feverishly fluffing up Mom’s new shop, the Urban Zen boutique.

        Next door, last year’s “it” restaurant, Tutto Il Giorno is open. Steve Florio, the retired Conde Nast power whose connections stirred the celebrity pot is dead.  Star chef Scott Conant, who consulted after abandoning a three star gig at l’Impero, last summer’s big draw for foodies, has moved into his own Manhattan kitchen at Scarpetta – repossessing his signature wild mushrooms with luscious polenta and the briny calamarata pasta.

       

Poached branzino is an evening high at Tutto Il Giorno Memorial Day weekend.

Chef Maurizio Marfoglia (Barolo, Coco Pazzo) has moved into the kitchen with his own Milanese ways. Last year’s rustic look has been lightened and smoothed by Gaby Karan de Felice, her first restaurant design. Dark wood floors are a mellow contrast with the pale gray walls and new hanging light fixtures make the main room feel bigger. Beyond the simple bar, Sag Harbor’s marina is as before, the best design touch of all.

        The sea bass tartare is Johnny one-note, delivering more peppers than fish and the Kobe beef carpaccio tastes as bland as the tartare though minus the pepper barrage. But the crispy fritto misto, a carefully fried toss of shrimp, calamari and zucchini, pops delicately in the mouth.  Marfoglio does even better with pastas. Granny Smith apple and ricotta filled ravioli look like puffed up moons and a first bite delivers a deliciously sexy nectar. Alongside, there is a sophisticated hint of chocolate in the chunky lamb ragu, a trick Marfoglia learned from his nonna. Perfectly al dente cavatelli merely dot a dense veal ragu simmered in the same Falanghina wine that was praised by the Romans: definitely more sauce than pasta but otherwise delicious. Delicately poached, the branzino filet reaches high, atop a hill of bright green spinach. Layered chocolate mousse cake in a neat square is just enough intense chocolate to satisfy each of our foursome.

        Even though I must admit I miss Conant’s pea soup and the heady truffle aroma of his haunting polenta, in De Felice’s cool makeover and Marfoglia’s debut at this first tasting, it seems Tutto il Giorno may be well armed for its second coming. 5-23-08