Slideshow

What to Eat at Trattoria Cinque, Home of the Cesarista

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Tomorrow, Russell Bellanca and his chef of ten years at Alfredo of Rome, Mirco Grassini, will open Trattoria Cinque in the spacious digs that used to house Devin Tavern (lunch service starts the next day). The concept is simple: The menu, which changes five times a year, is comprised of five small plates, five big plates, five pastas, five desserts, five reds, five whites — you get the idea. The only thing that breaks from format is the bar menu. Nothing crosses the $25 mark, and the 25 wines are offered by the quartino (a third of a bottle) but priced as if by the glass. Like Spina putting a pasta-maker in their dining room, Cinque has hired a “Cesarista” to prepare tableside Caesar salads. (The practice is, of course, nothing new, though the annoying name seems to be.) No word as to whether fettuccine will also be prepared tableside, like at Alfredo of Rome. Anyway, take a look at the menu, and at the sprawling room featuring two fireplaces and two private dining rooms.

Trattoria Cinque menu [PDF]

Trattoria Cinque, 363 Greenwich St., nr. Franklin St.; 212-965-0555

What to Eat at Trattoria Cinque, Home of the Cesarista