It is never easy for a restaurant created around the persona
of a well-known chef to lose that chef.
In the case of Beppe, Chef-partner Cesare Casella
had built a formidable reputation in NYC
as the city's premier Tuscan chef and
upon opening Beppe in 2001;
he even named it after his own grandfather.
Casella had made his rep first at Coco Pazzo in 1993,
then at Il Toscanaccio,
along the way writing Diary of a Tuscan Chef and
Italian Cooking for Dummies.
Beppe thrived in this Gramercy Square neighborhood,
and last year Casella went across town to open
the delightful Maremma on West 10th Street.
For reasons I know nothing of,
he decided to leave Beppe a few months later,
leaving the restaurant to be run by his partner
Gerald Lieblich and Chef Marc Taxiera.
So what's changed? Not very much, Grazie Dio!
The Tuscan farmhouse look of the place,
with its terracotta tiled roof,
antique barn-wood flooring,
and fireplace is still intact,
and the menu is much the same,
focusing on Tuscan cookery
with a good deal of other dishes well worth savoring.
True, you no longer get to see Casella bounding from his kitchen,
signature sprig of rosemary in his chef's pocket,
and that was indeed a large part of the personality of Beppe.
But manager Tom Piscitello and Taxiera are keeping
the spirit of the place going without a bump,
and my recent meal here was as fine as
any I'd had in the past.
The food is hearty, lusty, and deeply flavorful,
from antipasti to dolci.
The winelist is very solid,
with plenty of unusual estates at good value throughout,
along with the big names in Italian wine.
A dinner two weeks ago was a delight, beginning with antipasti that
included crisply fried bianchetti (whitefish) mixed with fresh herbs,
and a tasting of fried zucchini flowers and zucchini salad.
Little on this menu will be found at other Italian ristoranti in NYC,
like Taxiera's poached, sliced breast of capon with a balsamic vinegar sauce.
Tender grilled octopus (right) is served with red onion, pignoli, and a raisin salad.
So, too, pastas rise well above the standard issue:
Spaghetti with crumbled pork, garlic, rosemary and tomato,
simmered in Chianti--alla norcino
("butcher's style")--was hefty and good, while hand-cut pinci infused with
Parmigiano was served with summer's fava beans, spring onions, guanciale,
mint, and assertive pecorino.
Farrotto--a grain that sustained the Roman legions--
can be very bland on its own, but at Beppe,
cuddled with spring vegetables, it took on all kinds of flavors.
The night we visited we were lucky a special
was a platter of morels stuffed with potato and bacon,
then fried lightly to make them crisp.
If you want seafood, by all means
have the juicy pan-seared rombo (turbot)
with simple micro-greens and the spark of preserved lemons.
But the heart and soul of Tuscan
cooking is in its lusty meat dishes,
like rabbit strüdel with the flavor of curry and chickpeas,
or succulent pork ribs that have been marinated
with rosemary and garlic,
then roasted and afterwards grilled
to give them additional flavor-- a really gutsy,
wonderful dish.
Quite interesting for an Italian restaurant
was a stewed lamb shepherd's pie
with grilled lamb tenderloin.
And don't forget to order the Tuscan fried potatoes
doused with fresh herbs.
If you have room for dessert,
keep it on the simple side.
I'm happy to know that
Beppe is still doing well
and doing what it does so well.
It's always been
one of those places you go to for the unusual,
the regional, and a style of Italian
cooking you won't easily find elsewhere.
Beppe is open for lunch Mon.-Fri. and for dinner Mon.-Sat.
