New York City: Peasant (September 2002)

When Frank DeCarlo opened his restaurant, Peasant, on Elizabeth St in Nolita, he had no idea how popular the area would become. “It was 1999 and this area was part of Little Italy. We were the first real restaurant in the area that didn’t serve meatballs or fried calamari, so the neighborhood gave us a hard time at first.” Despite the Little Italy “red sauce” expectations, DeCarlo went on to create a chef’s hangout as well as a successful neighborhood place. “We have so many friends from the industry eating here and of course we have great clients from the area, it’s a win/win situation for us, like cooking for friends and family almost every night.” Peasant has become an after-hours dinner hangout for the likes of  Jean-Louis Palladin, a DeCarlo soul mate; Daniel Boulud. “They all like this place because it reminds them of when they started out using charcoal and wood in France,” says DeCarlo. “At the end of their meal, they all wind up in the kitchen blown away by this technique. it’s a real dying art”. In keeping with its namesake, the atmosphere of Peasant is unmistakably authentic rustic Italian. Long wooden tables and church pew benches, exposed brick walls, bare concrete floors, and candlelight make for the perfect foreground for the star of the show, the open kitchen featuring vintage brick wood-fire ovens, rotisserie and grill, all hand-crafted by DeCarlo himself, “I think I was a mason in a past life, laying the brick in this kitchen was almost as fun as cooking in it every night.” And cook he does. DeCarlo is one of the last chefs in NYC who cooks on the line every night. He won’t even roll his sleeves to expedite. “That’s the worst job in the kitchen. That’s not what I signed up for.” The menu is a multi-regional array of traditional, rustic dishes that changes seasonally and focuses on local farm to table as well as imported Italian products. The menu includes signature dishes like whole grilled orata, spit-roasted suckling pig, wood roasted squab, and several hand-made pastas. DeCarlo emphasizes the authenticity of his dishes, “everyone is so excited about farm to table in this country but in Italy that’s the norm. I’m just trying to give my customers the authentic experience, no prosciutto from Wyoming, it has to be from Parma, or it’s just ham.”