New York has always been a good Italian food town, but these are especially heady times for its pasta makers. French-trained chefs like Mario Carbone and Rich Torrisi's Fusilli in Dirty Duck Ragu at Torrisi Italian Specialties is Little Italy memories in a bespoke suit; Jonathan Benno left Per Se to make rigati at his brand new Lincoln Center restaurant, Lincoln; and thanks in large part to dishes like his anellini, Mark Ladner just turned Del Posto into the city's first four-star Italian restaurant since the 1970s.
Then there's Michael White, who imported a handful of bronze dyes for his pasta extruder at Osteria Morini. They allow him to produce specialty shapes with classic egg-enriched dough and quick cook-times. "You can have something that is very rich, supple, and has the texture of fresh pasta and not dry pasta,” explains White.
But the revolution isn't limited to the fresh stuff. Both Locanda Verde’s Andrew Carmellini and Sara Jenkins—who hopes to open Porsena later this month—emphasize the quality of dry varieties, which offer more bite and work better with some preparations. “There’s a lot of tradition that stems from dried pasta, South of Rome you don’t get a lot of egg pastas,” notes Carmellini.
So in honor of this pasta renaissance, The Feast presents a primer on unfamiliar pasta shapes in situ. While in many case shape does matter, “a lot of these shapes are just tongue-in-cheek,” jokes Ladner. “I found this pasta shape while reading that translates to a ‘thing-a-ma-jig.'" [The Feast]
