Michelin-starred Four Horsemen is an icon in the national dining scene, and new sister restaurant I Cavallini is starting to develop a reputation for fantastic Italian-style fare as well. Executive chef and co-partner Nick Curtola and his team walk through some of the Brooklyn restaurant’s signature dishes.
The fried eel toast is based on a ciccheti from Venice, but with deep-fried freshwater eel and agrodolce all layered into the perfect bite on crispy baguette. The same way that ciccheti leads a meal, the kitchen starts every day of prep with making two handmade pastas and two fresh pastas with pasta machines. Curtola discusses how the trofie pasta shape was an important achievement, working for a couple weeks to make the ideal hot water and semolina mix and rolling out the thin pasta pieces. The Union Square Greenmarket is another essential part of prep, with Curtola visiting the farmers market three to four times a week to collect super fresh produce.
The nervetti, or beef tendon stew, braising prep also starts early with the chopped up tendons braising in aromatics and wine for five to seven hours. The tendons are then put back in their own braising liquid and turned into a gelatinous terrine that can be thinly sliced into an onion salad. Risina beans from a small purveyor are prepped for a tuna toro dish, cooking down the show-stealing legumes for three hours. “These guys are brainwashed about beans,” Curtola jokes as he reminds sous chef Max Baez to not rush the beans. The thick cuts of tuna loin are dried out with plenty of salt for prep as well.
Curtola says the Four Horsemen team has helped to bring his vision of I Cavallini to life as he visits chef de cuisine Dylan Takao at the wine bar, who has taken over the kitchen while Curtola has been busy at his new restaurant. Takao put together the menu for the Eater 20 and Capital One Dinner Party at the restaurant a month ago. Curtola talks about how it was never a goal at Four Horsemen to win a Michelin Star, but it’s been wonderful to be honored for their work. Now, he heads back to the much larger I Cavallini, which he says houses his “dream kitchen.”
The spiral-shaped trofie pasta are finally rolled by four chefs for almost two hours before service, with over 100 pieces of the pasta in each serving of the over-the-top pasta dish. Curtola jumps into the pasta makingand they laugh together as they play an audiobook of Moby Dick while rolling the trofie. Before serving, the freshly cooked pasta is tossed with pesto and topped with shaved belprono cheese, a cow’s milk cheese covered in black pepper. The prepped tuna is seared in a hot pan and plated with the cooked down beans, tomatoes, and an herb-filled gremolata.
Curtola says he wants diners to have a good time when they visit I Cavallini, but also learn something new, like the origins of surprising shaved beef tendon and labor-intensive trofie. “So looking to surprise people along the way and just give them a really enjoyable experience,” he says.
Watch the latest episode of Mise en Place to see how Curtola and his team are joyfully introducing New Yorkers to their own riffs on Italian dishes and some unlikely ingredients at I Cavallini.
