This is the citys best new Italian restaurant in eons

I can’t wait to return to Borgo (124 E.27th Street).

Neither will you after your first meal at the best new Italian restaurant for grown-ups in many a Neapolitan, Abbruzzese or Roman moon.Its accessible, regions-roaming menu scored high on all but one of fourteen dishes I had in every category.It offers a richly seasoned, meticulously turned-out kaleidoscope of familiar Italian pleasures made new.Owner Andrew Tarlow was a driving force behind Brooklyn’s culinary revolution, from Diner under the Williamsburg Bridge approach to Roman’s in Fort Greene.

I miss his long-gone Reynard in the Wythe Hotel, too.But 140-seat Borgo, his first foray into Manhattan and his first new place anywhere in ten years, is more grown-up, both in kitchen consistency and comfort level — although it’s almost as noisy despite white tablecloths and reasonably-spaced tables.Tarlow audaciously chose the site of much-loved I Trulli, which drew crowds for nearly thirty years before it fell to the pandemic in 2022. Although he replaced I Trulli’s bones with finely crafted new materials, it looks much like its predecessor, down to the wood-burning oven, which got only a fresh paint job.The layout’s familiar: two large dining rooms with arched ceilings, the original I Trulli bar at the front and a colorfully lit rear garden.My favorite places to sit are the booths that face the bustling open kitchen and hearth in the side room, where the din is relatively softer.Chef Jordan Frosolone, a veteran of the Momofuku empire and Marco Canora’s Hearth, evokes I Trulli’s rustic spirit and greatly improves on it.

The house focaccia is a crackling, tomato-free spin on the Ligurian original with Robiola and Fontina cheeses tucked between thin sheets of dough.Enjoy it sparingly or you’ll be too full to go on.Anchovies from Italy and Spain, spine-free and served with spicy pink Neonata butter, are worth a visit alone.

Rounds of candy-like delicata squash are crackling crisp, sprinkled wi...