Restaurant Girl finds the perfect dish at I Trulli

After last week’s appearance in the Village Voice, Chef Patti Jackson‘s Cavatelli with Broccoli Rabe has gotten another press mention this week, this time on influential Danyelle Freeman‘s New York City dining blog, Restaurant Girl. Click here for the full recipe!

Patti’s Cavatelli in the Village Voice

Chef Patti Jackson‘s signature dish, Cavatelli with Broccoli Rabe and Toasted Almonds is featured in the Village Voice‘s Fork In The Road blog! “I love this dish because of its simplicity, both of the ingredients and flavors,” the I Trulli chef tells Chantal Martineau. “It really reminds me of the reasons why I love Italian food.” Click here for the recipe!

Patti Jackson’s Fava Bean Soup in Organic Spa magazine

Chef Patti Jackson‘s Fava Bean Soup with Farro and Dandelion is featured in next month’s Organic Spa magazine! The I Trulli chef’s recipe is selected by Ellen Swandiak for her Hip Hostess column as a classic and healthy vegetarian winter warmer. Check out the full article below or click here to read online! The February issue of Organic Spa magazine is available now!

I Trulli on Fox 5’s Good Day New York!

It was a very special Christmas Eve at I Trulli: the restaurant was featured on Fox 5’s Good Day New York this morning in a live cooking segment celebrating the classic dish, cavatelli with broccoli rabe. Dora Marzovilla (assisted by her grandchildren) rolled fresh cavatelli which Chef Patti Jackson cooked up for meteorologist Mike Woods. The full recipe is available on the MyFox website!

Patti Jackson on The Daily Beast

Patti Jackson is on The Daily Beast today! The I Trulli chef gives her Fresh Picks on the site’s Blogs & Stories, selecting her favorite holiday recipe, restaurant, cookbook and food destination. Her choices may surprise you! Check out the full article here!

Happy hour, Italian style

If you’ve ever spent any time in Italy, you’ll be familiar with the perfectly time-honored tradition that is aperitivo. That’s when Italians, whether mid-passeggiata or just getting off work, all head to their favorite bar. But more than just a pre-dinner drink, aperitivo is a time of day and a state of mind: no longer afternoon but not quite evening, it represents that delightful moment when the working day is through and another pleasant evening of good food and company awaits.

Italy’s bustling piazze are the ideal place to people-watch and perhaps enjoy a Negroni (gin, Campari, red vermouth), one of the
country’s most popular cocktails.

This uniquely Italian ritual has its origins in Northern Italy, which saw a boom in cordial and liqueur production in the early twentieth century. By the 1920s the fashionable bars of Milan, Turin and Florence would swell each evening with thinkers and drinkers sipping Campari, Punt e Mes and Cinzano. Only in recent years has the modern aperitivo hour taken form; today bars all over Italy offer a delicious selection of free antipasti with their wine or cocktails, making it a popular choice for young and old.

Now you can enjoy aperitivo on East 27th Street! I Trulli’s Enoteca
awaits all New Yorkers seeking a little “dolce vita” this Fall.

The custom of aperitivo may seem deeply connected to the pleasurable lifestyle of Italy, but the hectic pace of Manhattan? At I Trulli, we see no reason why you should miss out on such an elegant practice — after all, even New Yorkers deserve to unwind sometimes. Join us every evening from 5:00-7:00pm for I Trulli’s aperitivo hour: choose from our brand new cocktail and sparkling wine list and enjoy complimentary small plates from Chef Patti Jackson‘s kitchen! Salute!

For more information and reservations please contact 212-481-7372 or info@itrulli.com.

I Trulli’s aperitivo launch has already captured the attention of the local press. Just check out some of these recent mentions (click on the logos):

Patti Jackson’s crabapple mostarda in New York magazine

Rob and Robin declare crabapples “In Season”

Patti Jackson‘s recipe for crabapple mostarda is featured in this week’s issue of New York magazine! The I Trulli chef buys the fruit from the Greenmarket‘s Breezy Hill Orchard or Locust Grove Fruit Farm to make her famous mostarda, described by Robin Raisfeld and Rob Patronite as a “chutney-like Italian condiment.” Served with sheep’s-milk cheese or bollito misto, Patti’s tasty mostarda is a fall favorite at I Trulli.

Read the full “In Season” report here! The current issue of New York magazine is available at newsstands now!

Illustration by John Burgoyne; Photo by Hannah Whitaker.

Lambrusco & pork dumplings and more Italian-Chinese pairings in today’s New York Times

Alex Witchel combines four favorites from Vino with the flavors of the Far East

Italy and China have long since shared a common passion for eating well; today many young Chinese are excited about aspects of modern Italian culture, including fashion, football, and of course food and wine.

New Yorkers don’t have to travel half-way around the world to taste great Chinese food, yet are easily flummoxed when it comes to choosing a wine to pair with their pork dumplings or Peking duck. Though I drank only Tsingtao or Yanjing beer (or failing that, Coca-Cola) with food on a trip to Beijing earlier this year, I’ve often considered the sharp bubbles of Lini’s Lambrusco a perfect partner for all manner of classic dishes from the Far-East. Indeed, the cuisine of China and Emilia-Romagna are not so far apart: both are reliant on fresh vegetables, rich, meaty flavors, and of course, noodles.

Delicious meat, fish and vegetable dishes are more often paired with beer in Beijing, like at this restaurant in Bei Hai park. But what about Lambrusco?

In “What Marco Polo Knew” (published in today’s New York Times), acclaimed writer and critic Alex Witchel takes the idea one step further, and discovers — at the suggestion of Beijing Times reader and Gary Price — that the pairing of Italian wine and Chinese cuisine is not so unlikely. In her Feed Me column, Witchel admits to having “neither the patience nor the back for schlepping” to Flushing, but she did make it down to East 27th Street where she picked up four of our favorite wines from Vino, which were then taken home and paired with dishes from Shun Lee West, Wu Liang Ye and Szechuan Gourmet, three of Manhattan’s top Chinese restaurants. So how did these Italian bottles rate with Chinese take-out?

Typical Beijing dumplings known as “jaozi” and “baozi” served at a popular student eatery near the university.

Here are some of Alex’s tasting comments:

Lambrusco Scuro NV Lini and fried pork dumplings: “A fizzy purple… a light, bright match but not quite special enough to repeat.”

Rosso di Montalcino 2005 Cerbaia and filet mignon with black peppercorn sauce: “Lovely… [but] looking for love in all the wrong places.”

Valpolicella Superiore Ripasso 2005 Le Ragose and Peking duck: “Transcendent… we all swore never to have one without the other again.”

Inzolia 2008 ERA and tofu with chili-minced pork: “Stood up to it like David to Goliath, unexpectedly heroic.”

Read the full article here.

Italian ragazzi have their cornetto and macchiato, but for young people in Beijing, a scorpion on a stick makes for a tasty mid-morning snack.

All photography by James Taylor, Beijing, April 2009.

The best thing I ever ate? Orecchiette al ragù!

So says Michael Psilakis, as I Trulli is featured on the Food Network

Michael Psilakis doesn’t mince his words. “I was on a mission to find the ultimate pasta,” says the New York-based restaurateur, “and I’ve found it.” The chef and owner of Kefi and Anthos, two of the city’s finest Greek restaurants, Psilakis gave a big shout-out to I Trulli recently on the Food Network’s The Best Thing I Ever Ate. “You walk into that restaurant and it’s like coming home,” he says. In particular, Dora Marzovilla‘s freshly-made pasta is something Psilakis struggles to get his head around: “How does flour and water become something different in her hands, than in everybody else’s hands?” Dora’s orecchiette have been on the menu at I Trulli since day one, and are best paired with Chef Patti Jackson‘s rabbit ragù. “You can tell that time and passion is behind what’s going on in that bowl,” gushes Psilakis. “This is the pasta that defines what pasta should be.”

Check out The Best Thing I Ever Ate on the Food Network, Tuesdays at 9:30pm Eastern/8:30pm Central.

Joe Campanale pours Lini on NBC’s Today show

Hot New York restaurateur pours Lambrusco on national television!

For Memorial Day weekend, there’s no better choice of than Lambrusco Labrusca by Lini. These refreshing sparkling wines really hit the spot, whether grilling in the garden or chilling at the beach. But don’t take our word for it — just ask New York restaurateur Joe Campanale (right). The co-owner of Dell’Anima and L’Artusi appeared on NBC’s Today show this morning, where he chose Labrusca Bianco and Rosso among his picks for the perfect summer wine. If you missed the show, click here to watch the full clip!

One of New York’s youngest restaurateurs, the 25-year old Campanale’s star has risen spectacularly since he opened Dell’Anima in 2007 with Chef Gabe Thompson (below with Campanale outside Dell’Anima). The rapid success of the small West Village hotspot spurred the duo to expand to L’Artusi just one year later. Now, both restaurants are favorite neighborhood destinations for anyone seeking delicious and inventive Italian fare and a top class wine selection.

The growing popularity of Lini in New York in many ways mirrors Campanale’s recent success. Since the arrival of the Labrusca line in 2007, Lini’s range of sparkling, classic Lambrusco has proven a universal hit throughout the city’s restaurant and wine industry, giving rebirth to a unique variety. Now, with an exciting line of refreshing and affordable wines, the Lini brand continues to gather momentum across the United States.

Campanale, a former sommelier at Babbo and wine editor at Debonair magazine who also works as a freelance wine writer, personally oversees the wine programs at Dell’Anima and L’Artusi. A huge fan of Lini and Lambrusco, he didn’t hesitate in adding Labrusca Bianco to both restaurants’ wine lists. Now Joe has helped introduce Lini’s Lambrusco to over two million Today viewers nationwide.

But Campanale is not the only Lambrusco fan to mention declare his love for Lini on air this week: on Wednesday Adrian Murcia (left), sommelier and fromager at Tribeca’s Chanterelle, selected Labrusca Rosé (a brand new addition to the Labrusca line) among his top wine and cheese pairings for Memorial Day weekend in an appearance on Martha Stewart Radio.

Grazie Joey e Adrian!