Tucci is the city’s hottest new Italian restaurant in many a moon.
Beautifully built atop fine 19th-century bones, it’s the first place that might give reigning boldface-magnet Carbone a run for its money — and for less money than that notoriously hot spot.
Tucci — or TUCCI as they prefer to stylize the name — doesn’t have a rockstar chef like Mario Carbone in the kitchen, but it has a very good one in Ed Hong.
But what really sets Tucci apart is co-owner Max Tucci’s design flair and hospitality wizardry.
He’s filled the joint with witty Tuscan touches, including Gucci “Tiger Leaf” wallpaper in the bathrooms.
“[They’re] a favorite spot for selfies, like the ones at the Polo Bar,” Tucci said of his washrooms.
The Tucci-Gucci connection is no joke. The fashion house is headquartered in Florence, Italy, which also happens to be Tucci’s ancestral home.
On the Noho corner of Broadway and Bleecker, he’s channeled the spirit of a central Italian villa with help from the building’s original underground brick-and-stone walls and archways.
They once belonged to Pfaffs, a rathskeller-like subterranean restaurant in an adjacent hotel that was known as a rare, mid-1800s gay-friendly establishment and was a favorite watering hole of the great American poet Walt Whitman.
“Part of the downstairs dining area is actually under the sidewalk,” Tucci said. Many first-time customers don’t know it’s there “until we ask them if they want to hang at the downstairs bar until their tables are ready. Once they see it — especially younger ones — they ask for it next time they come.”
The more grownup-friendly ground level boasts hand-crafted banquettes and velvet draperies over floor-to-ceiling windows. White tablecloths on both levels help muffle the din from happy locals and boldfaces such as Whoopi Goldberg, Ethan Hawke, Sandra Lee, pop culture chronicler Nikki Haskell, Yankees reliever Dennis Santana and fashion designer Zang Toi. Music-producing legend Clive Davis celebrated both his 92nd birthday and Passover on different nights with producer/philanthropist Candy Spelling.
The menu offers a comforting mix of southern and northern Italian favorites and red-saucy Italian-American ones.
There’s no $85 veal parm like Carbone’s, but there’s juicy, 14-ounce veal marsala ($64) with portobello and hen of the woods mushrooms and a house-made jus rich in herbs and spices.
Hong does great things with tomato sauce, especially with a marinara that’s mixed with Calabrian chili paste and served atop the best meatballs in town ($27 but enough for two).
But my favorite pasta was a different color entirely — agnolotti filled with Robiola cheese and fresh peas and sauced in corn and butter ($33). My friend declared it a “summer preview on a plate.”
The 100-seat trattoria is a “sister restaurant” to born-again landmark Delmonico’s in FiDi.
Hong is also the chef there, and Tucci is the author of a bestselling book about the iconic steak restaurant’s history and recipes.
But his Italian joined remained under the media radar until days before it opened in March — unlike Delmonico’s which was hyped a year in advance.
Tucci explained that he and co-owner Dennis Turcinovic were too busy preparing for the steakhouse launch to worry about publicity for the trattoria.
But once they fell in love with the space, “The momentum happened very quickly,” he said.
The momentum’s now on display every night.
