For the better part of the last 35 years, Italian chef Fulvio Pierangelini was busy running his two-Michelin-starred restaurant Gambero Rosso in Tuscany, rated the world’s twelfth best by the 50 Best in 2008. He was also afraid of flying until one day a few years ago when he braced himself and, he says, “just did it.” To commemorate his first-ever visit to NYC, Fathom takes him out to eat on a gonzo tour of the city’s best Italian places.
He started with pizza at Eataly, then lamb sliders, orecchiette with duck sausage, and a porchetta sandwich with grilled onions and provolone at Locanda Verde. At Del Posto, Mark Ladner hand-delivered a plate of 100-layer lasagna, which Pierangelini followed up with more pasta at Maialino, before finishing with the trofie nero at Ai Fiori. All in a few hours. Verdict? “The Italian food I have eaten today is better than much of what we eat in Italy.” Huzzah!
