#PeachysPicks #Peachy #Picks #BuonaNotte Since 1985 by #SalEsposito and Team #LittleItaly #Manhattan 120 Mulberry Street Little Italy Manhattan
Sal Esposito leads Little Italy with not only Il Cortile but also Buona Notte!
It's never been who you know, it's WHOM YOU KNOW and we know Sal Esposito, Owner of Il Cortile Since 1975 (it's turning 50 next year!) and a Peachy's Pick Since 2013, last featured last summer and also Owner of Buona Notte, across the street.
BUONA NOTTE means GOOD NIGHT in Italian; you'll meet the signature crescent moon at each table.
Obviously, you literally are going to have a good night at least but more probably a great one.
In the Summer of 2022, we visited Buona Notte, its little sibling to eat for the first time and drumroll please, it's the newest Peachy's Pick! When you enter, you'll be thrilled by the authentic pictures of yesteryear that preceded the birth of Sal...here's who got this party started:
We especially like that last one because we believe that's Robert F. Kennedy (Kick's grandfather); you know his son by the same name is running for President now and even better is the newest generation, Mover and Shaker Kick Kennedy, whom we met years before Sal, featured back in 2009:
So Kick, if you are reading, you ought to join Peachy here.
Everyone's got Spring Fever, and this gorgeous weather right now makes Buona Notte's backyard even more fabulous!
Inside it's just as fabulous:
We adore those skylights:
So they've got great family history, great American history, a fantastic backyard, a gorgeous inside and most certainly an owner who's tops because everyone loves the hit show Little Italy with Sal and Peachy. You might be wondering how the food is because after all, this is a restaurant.
Sal Esposito champions the finest across the board in edible indulgences and we know this from eating at Il Cortile for eleven years. Buona Notte has proven to be no exception!
Avid readers know we are enormous proponents of salads, particularly with the advent of our newest culinary column, Sensational Salad. The Fennel Salad here is a standout winner, starring of course Fennel ~ gorgeously sliced. Fresh tomatoes and baby arugula round out the team that luxuriates in a symphony of lemon vinaigrette.
Meatballs are among our favorites at Il Cortile so it should come as no surprise that we found the Buona Notte meatballs laudable too. In a 50/50 Beef and Pork composition, the irresistible carnivorous spheres waltz in tomato sauce, basil, parmigiano reggiano and ricotta cheese.
Meatball glamour shots:
The pizza section gives you five choices, including the Margherita, above. The purity of tomato sauce and mozzarella further highlighted by basil is really a holy trinity of pizza and a religious experience for Peachy. For Pasta, there are a dozen choices and we narrowed it down to three.
Black Tagiolini with Seafood is a home run from the artisanal black squid ink to each of the quality ingredients of the sea. Shrimp, mussels, calamari and clams all swim with tomatoes, white wine, chili pepper and parsley combining into a total culinary ravishment of your palate.
Well readers, it looks like they listened because Peachy just went around the Monopoly board again and noted that they built a hotel on their Boardwalk because we had chicken with it!
Perfection!
Finally, Spaghetti Alla Carbonara pays homage to the building that was Esposito Meats in the 1890s way before Little Italy with Sal and Peachy with the star: Imported Guanciale! Pecorino Romano, egg yolk and black pepper team up for a Stanley Cup winner of a goal in your stomach.
We LOVE Chicken Parm and we especially have historically loved it at Il Cortile so it just makes sense that it is also spectacular across the street! Note you can get the Chicken any style (Marsala, Piccata and Francese are other options) but you know Peachy is a Chicken Parm monster, akin to the Cookie Monster. The portion size is tremendous and the flavor absolutely hits the spot.
An entree that will really wow you is the Brasato Di Manzo: Braised, deboned (key! no struggle! no spots on your cocktail dress!) short rib strikes a pose on the Buona Notte tablecloth runway with a sidekick of polenta valdosta and expertly finished in red wine reduction and celebrated with microgreens. So tender and delicious, it will melt in your mouth....not in your hand (and your hands are clean because it's deboned!) If you are lucky enough to befriend Sal, you'll note his amazing sense of humor and superior sense of New York sport enthusiasm across the board.
Note we NEVER edit pictures.
You excel like Sal, or we do not publish.
You excel like Sal, or we do not publish.
Finally, for the seafood enthusiasts, please meet the spectacular Salmon!
If you think all Salmons are the same, think again.
This one perches on a plentiful bed of sauteed spinach with the most tantalizing pomegranate reduction, setting it apart from others in this neighborhood and city by a mile.
Be sure to say hello to Betty and Manny!
Peachy Picks Buona Notte!
Buona Notte is Highly Recommended by Whom You Know.
