Borgo is the latest from restaurateur Andrew Tarlow
It’s a fact: Andrew Tarlow has been behind some of Brooklyn’s most beloved restaurants. Diner, housed in a revamped 90-year-old Pullman dining car, spins seasonal specialties under the Williamsburg bridge. Another hit right around the corner, Marlow & Sons, is a laid-back, all-day neighborhood spot with grab-and-go in the morning and natty wines and cocktails in the evening. And we don’t have to tell you about the committed customers of She Wolf Bakery—the never-ending line at each and every farmer’s market does that for us. After a 10-year gap, Tarlow is back with his latest. But this time, he traveled across the bridge, opening up in Manhattan for the first time.
RECOMMENDED: 12 of NYC’s most anticipated new restaurants for fall of 2024
Bringing a continental trattoria to Nomad comes the latest from Tarlow: Borgo. Once he happened upon the former I Trulli location, which stood for 25 years, he knew he found something special.
“It’s my dream restaurant,” Tarlow said in a press release. “We’ve been wanting to build something new for a long time, to apply and refine everything we’ve learned and experienced on a new level, and to celebrate our particular style and love for food, wine and hospitality with a broader audience. We waited patiently but eagerly for the right opportunity, and when I walked in here I knew this was it.”
His latest follows the philosophy of his other restaurants, producer and grower-focused with local ingredients taking the wheel. Except this time, the cuisine is Italian and much of it leans on the wood-fired oven. The Focaccia Borgo rises in the oven, while the chicken with celery root and marsala and the whole branzino cook and get that noted char. One of the most popular dishes comes the drum-shaped Timballo di Anelletti, also kissed by the oven. A layered dish filled with anelleti noodles, braised beef cheek and bechamel, the pasta dish is draped in ricotta salata. But just like many other of Tarlow’s restaurants, vegetables reign supreme as the shareable Chicories salad and marinated artichokes with hunks of buffalo mozzarella stand all their own.
All can be enjoyed at the marble bar for a casual fete, at one of the many white tablecloth tables or on the verdant back patio. Don’t forget—besides a solid natural wine list, martinis here are shaken served tableside. Order yours and let the luxury come to you.