If you thought Italian food was spaghetti
and meatballs or chicken parmigiana, Grappa Cafe owners Luca
and Robert Caravello want to give you a culinary lesson – every
week.
Chef Luca and his brother Robert have been serving top-notch,
innovative Italian cuisine for two and a half years at their
restaurant on Court Street in Downtown Brooklyn, but next week
they will put a new spin on their menu.
Beginning March 4, the Brothers Caravello invite you to sample
Italian cuisine, one region at a time. Every Tuesday, Grappa
will offer a new prix fixe menu featuring the flavors of a different
Italian region. (Of course, those enamored of the current menu
can continue to order a la carte on Tuesdays, also.)
Grappa is not just the name of the restaurant. The Italian brandy,
distilled from the pomace of grapes, is also an ingredient in
a few of the dishes. In fact, there is even grappa in Chef Luca’s
tiramisu.
Luca gave GO Brooklyn an early sampling of his planned Piemonte
menu, which will kick off the tour of Italy.
He plans to open with farfalle di Grappa, a half-order of farfalle
pasta in a rich, four-cheese sauce. Topped with generous shavings
of Parmesan and sprinkled with cubed tomatoes and parsley, the
pretty dish of bow-tie pasta sings with the blend of Gorgonzola,
provolone, fontina and Parmesan cheeses.
The cheeses are first marinated in a sweet grappa, said Luca.
Just a hint of the grappa stays in the dish, pleasantly thinning
the heavy, Gorgonzola-dominated sauce.
For an entree, Luca will serve a light, buttery codfish, snuggled
against vibrantly yellow lemon wedges. (Luca said there might
be a second entree from which to choose on the Piemonte menu.)
His square of codfish hangs above a vast pool of lemony, white
wine and caper emulsion. But the thrill of that entree was the
best broccoli rabe I have ever tasted.
In fact, I didn’t recognize it when it was served.
Luca laughingly explained that the way to tell if the rabe is
prepared correctly is if its florets are intact. (He preserves
his by first blanching the vegetable and then sauteing it.) In
many Italian restaurants, the broccoli rabe is so utterly drowned
in oil and garlic that the flavor of the vegetable is indiscernible.
Not at Grappa. The broccoli rabe is a brilliant green tangle
of florets, and it is delicious.
Luca was trained at Manhattan’s French Culinary Institute and
this training means that Grappa’s offerings have all of the wonderfully
fresh, clean flavors of Italy aside pools of rich, creamy French-style
sauces that make your toes curl.
The chef explained that the codfish sauce is made with a generous
amount of white wine, and that is typical of Piemonte, a wine-producing
region nestled at the foot of the Alpine ranges.
"In Lombardia they use a lot of fontina," said Luca.
"They put it in everything – they stuff veal with fontina."
So loosen your belts, Brooklyn, because the fontina will be the
inspired ingredient of an upcoming menu, and as the weather warms
and tomatoes ripen, the chef will explore the dishes of Sicilia.
"We’ll cook with figs in late summer," he said, admitting
that he harvests Grappa’s figs from his dad’s backyard in Dyker
Heights. "They are huge and sweet as can be. At least there,
we know where our figs are coming from. It ensures there are
no pesticides or anything like that.
"I wish he had a bigger backyard and we could get all our
vegetables there!"
All of the desserts are made at Grappa, because Luca said he
wants control over everything, including the love that’s put
into his dishes, but he has not yet decided which happy ending
to apply to the Piemonte menu.
Regardless of which regions they typify, Grappa’s torta ciocolatta,
a chocolate cake with a warm, chocolate-pudding center served
with a creamy, French vanilla ice cream is indeed transporting,
and his mocha-flavored tiramisu di Grappa was perfectly airy
and creamy, with a slight hint of grappa. Both desserts were
generously surrounded with chocolate and caramel sauces, and
both would be a fitting finale to a meal – on any day of the
week.
Another reason to visit: Grappa’s service, overseen by Robert
and sister Sarina, the maitre d’, is gracious and unpretentious.
As comforting – and sexy – as the Caravellos’ rich, flavorful
menu, is the candlelit dining room with its exposed brick walls,
cozy banquettes and terra cotta tile floors. The family is as
passionate about food as they are about Italy, and the heady
combination will have diners returning every Tuesday to fall
in love over and over again.
Grappa Cafe Bar & Restaurant is
located at 112 Court St. at State Street. Grappa accepts American
Express, MasterCard and Visa. Entree range: $15.50-$21 or $35
for three-course, prix-fixe regional menu served every Tuesday
beginning March 4. For more information, call (718) 237-4024,
or visit the Web site at www.grappacafe.com.