As the world of indie becomes increasingly corpie–H&M, Whole Foods, MTV, Bob Dylan, Craigslist, New Brooklyn Cuisine, Courtney Love, Jonathan Lethem, everything in Williamsburg–some hard-headed restaurateurs are doing battle with the forces of evil.
Francis Garcia and his cousin Sal Basille, the boys behind three NYC restaurants–the fabled Sicilian pizza purveyor Artichoke Basille’s Pizza & Brewery, the newly minted dessert destination Led Zeppole and the beeftastic This Little Piggy Had Roast Beef–are leading the charge against inglorious bastardization and the kind of ho-hum dining (and listening) the East Village has sadly become accustomed to.
“I’ve slept three hours in the last two days; I’m living on Red Bull and cigarettes,” Francis grinned, wiping the sweat from his brow, running between the sandwich production zone at This Little Piggy, the takeout counter, the register and the mobs of drooling customers, eager to place their order. And yes, there was more than just an aura of rock star about Francis and his team of beef specialists.
Their weapons of choice often involve cheese…and music. (Also, grease, an aversion to calorie counting, an apparent phobia of tables and chairs, salt ‘n lots of it, and sass served with a side of surl). They’ve got musical programs that espouse the temporal, philosophical, spiritual and intellectual terroir from which the food itself springs, in all of its heavily seasoned glory.
As classic 1940s swing and jazz played in the background and a chandelier from the same era found on Craigslist twinkled overhead, the smell of beef marinated for hours permeated the tiny brick-walled store front. Crocks of au jus gravy bubbled on the stove and fresh mozzarella springy enough to ball up and bounce off the walls was sliced, and I felt like I’d stepped into a time warp. Francis wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I’m inspired by music from different eras, old tenement buildings, old New York when the East Village streets were lined with carts and peddlers and the lives they led,” he said. “I live in the same building that Butch Cassidy lived in back in the day. At Artichoke, we play music I grew up on–I’m 32–so it’s old-school rock. You know, Pearl Jam, ’90s music that doesn’t suck.”
And at Led Zeppole? “It’s not just Led Zeppelin!” Francis said, a tad forcefully. “But there is a lot of that,” he added with a wink.
Next time you bemoan the fate of the East Village, stop in for a slice, a cake or a sandwich and prepare to be transported to a time when artisanally produced fare wasn’t a trend–it was a way of life. The food, the atmosphere, the owners…and the music.
TOPICS: Eat to the Beat, Kathleen Willcox