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“Beppe”

Occasion:	Cuisine:	Area:	Cost:	Rating:
Night Out	Italian	Flatiron	Moderate	Great

ke a culinary Santa Claus, a round-bellied Tuscan chef whose hallmark is a bouquet of fresh herbs tucked into his breast pocket. He just opened a Wild West/Tuscan spot called Maremma in the West Village (which I did not like at all), and while he attends to business over there, chef Marc Taxiera is in charge of the home front kitchen. Marc is doing a stellar job, and his stage is a lovely one. Beppe is cozy and toasty on these cold nights. It feels like an old farmhouse, with sturdy tables dressed with yellow gingham napkins, a blazing open fire hearth, beamed ceilings and hardwood floors. It warms every inch of you.

We started, as Susie suggested, with those sausages—Salsiccia ($12)—and people, I must say, these sausages caused sighs of joy. Susie and I were in a transcendental state of ecstasy while Jamie, a former chef, analyzed the sausage’s brilliant spice content. “It’s cinnamon!” She was right. The sausages are seasoned with a spice blend from Livorno that features 19 spices, including that soft, sweet one, cinnamon. The plump and juicy links are served in a cast iron skillet with creamy, fat white beans and a fresh strand of rosemary. Soon, that strand was the only thing left in the skillet. The salt cod ($10) however, was fairly blah in comparison. It was watery and sort of flavorless, stewed with garlic and tomatoes and bedded on a mound of soft polenta. We left it alone and instead concentrated on mopping up the last of the sausage pan juices with some bread.

While we rested our tummies between courses, a plate of the most magnificent French fries were shuttled past our table. The three of us softly moaned, in unison—OH MY GOD! Those fries looked so fine that George Clooney could have been walking by with Gael Garcia Bernal, and Clive Owen, and I don’t think we would have noticed them. Susie had already ordered them (the fries, not George, Gael and Clive), so we knew they would be ours soon enough. We began to drool.

We were still drooling when the pasta courses arrived. We ordered two to share—the Norcino ($18) and the Tagliatelle ($19), both of which won our hearts outright. The Norcino is rustic and sensual—thin, fresh strands of hand-made “butcher’s spaghetti” are gently smothered in a rich ragu made of crumbled pork, garlic, red wine, rosemary and roasted tomatoes. It’s the sort of pasta I might eat out of a pot until someone took me away and locked me up. The Tagliatelle was nice as well—ribbons of red pepper p ... [more, click below]

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Posted: November 27, 2005

Other restaurants in Flatiron :
+ Suenos   + Amuse-- Closed   + Dos Caminos   + Lucy-- Closed   + Gramercy Taver   + Veritas   + Fleur De Sel   + Bolo -- CLosed   + City Bakery   + Shake Shack   + Kalustyan's Cafe   + Devi   + BLT Fish   + Sugarcane   + BLT Prime   + Barca 18-- CLOSED   + Beppe   + Barbounia   + Boqueria   + Eleven Madison   + Lonesome Dove-- CLOSED   + Hill Country   + Olana   + Wildwood   + Primehouse   + Allegretti   + Bar Breton   + Aldea   + SD26 by Bao Ong   + ABC Kitchen   + Ciano   + The NoMad   

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