Tutto suona più bello in italiano

Lo Scalco
313 Church Street
New York, NY 10013
212-343-2900

There is something about finding out a restaurant is a husband-and-wife operation that raises it somewhat in my estimation. It is as if the discovery reassures me that there was something personal, some love and devotion, some true feeling that inspired the opening of the restaurant; that it is not just another addition to some restaurant mogul’s portfolio. That warms my heart. I have recently been working out of New York City – where there is no shortage of good eats – and had the good fortune this past week to dine at just such an establishment.

The interior of Lo Scalco is beautiful - sleek, modern white walls and touches of black and muted brown, with Beaux-Arts arches, elaborate chandeliers and a classy marble bar. Designed by the wife of the chef and owner, after whose family the restaurant is lovingly and respectfully named, its most charming feature is the piping. It is left exposed, and camouflaged wittily amidst other horizontal fixtures across the high ceilings, in a very Brutalist sort of way, and it gives an edge to the elegance of the room – an edge that is, arguably, replicated in the food.

Lo Scalco’s menu is organised by region; there is an antipasto, primo and secondo for each region, that you mix and match for your meal. There are also some staples which, our waiter proclaims, the restaurant has never been able to take off the menu due to popular demand. One of these is the cannelloni with ricotta and artichokes, which I wound up getting. It certainly lived up to the hype – it was light and smooth and yet still packed a punch. I followed that with the rabbit – which was smothered perhaps a tad too much in fresh rosemary for my liking, but enjoyable nonetheless. Quantities aside, the cooking unconditionally espoused one of the main tenets of Italian cuisine – to let quality ingredients speak for themselves.

When it comes down to it, maybe cooking isn’t so difficult after all. What is difficult is finding fresh, local, quality ingredients.

Midway through our meal the chef comes out of the kitchen for what I can only assume is his periodic ritual of walking around and making sure things are running smoothly. You can tell that he is a chef almost immediately, and not from his toque and apron – although those do help. There are certain characteristics that are particular to each profession, and the practitioners of these professions are almost always indelibly marked. He had in his manner and comportment a singular focus and intensity – when he was walking one could tell that the foremost thing in his mind at that particular moment was getting from point A to point B. I think this is borne of working with food, where despite the need in a kitchen to manage and process a million different things happening at once, a million different entrees being prepared at once – when it comes down to it a chef must focus all his energies, at any given nanosecond, on the task that is at hand. Be it whisking a sauce or stirring a risotto, that particular task – in the instant that it is being performed – is all-consuming and all-important. Lose focus, and the dish will invariably suffer. The great chef is one who can multi-task and yet still ensure that each individual task receives his undivided attention when he is performing it.

We had no wine that night – a pity and a crying shame – because there was still work to be done after, and miles to go before we slept. Yet Lo Scalco was a pleasant experience, aided by the fact that we walked in without a reservation. There are precious few restaurants of this quality, especially in New York, where one can do this. It certainly begged questioning, but I suspect that now that the Guide Michelin has awarded it a star; once the Times reviews it the rest of New York will be all over it.

***Footnote: Once again the curse of the commentator strikes - I have been informed that Lo Scalco will be closing its Tribeca location soon. Apparently there is a move on the cards, to a Midtown location, but well. Que sera, sera.