(Photos courtesy of Perbacco)
After closing in the spring, East Village mainstay Perbacco is reopening with a new look, chef, and menu.
The 14-year-old Italian spot was once known for having a menu that read “like a greatest-starchy-hits list of regional Italian cooking.” But then in 2008, chef Simone Bonelli came aboard to add a modern touch and land the restaurant in Adam Platt’s Where to Eat. Now, it’s rebooting with another Italian-born chef, Clelia Bendandi, who’s cooked in the kitchens of Da Silvano and Il Bagatto. She’s bringing 35 shareable dishes (aka “small plates”) to what will now be more of a wine bar, with plush leather seating and over 80 wines (including more than 40 by the glass) representing over 20 regions of Italy.
The menu, we’re told, is 80 percent new, pairing additions like spaghetti and spicy pork sausage with carryover dishes like eggplant croquettes in fresh burrata cream. The classic beef meatballs have been replaced with a variety that also incorporates pork, veal, mortadella, and spinach.
The new Perbacco opens tomorrow at 234 East Fourth Street, between A and B. Check out the menus.