THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Falai Panetteria

THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Falai Panetteria Restaurant Review:

Set in a former hair salon on once-decrepit, now-cool Clinton Street, this “bakery” is an offshoot of former Le Cirque 2000 pastry chef Iacopo Falai’s eponymous eatery a half block up the street. This less formal spot, bathed in white and bedecked with large mirrors and porcelain chandeliers, serves up bread products to go. But that’s not why there’s usually a gaggle of hungry people gathered on the sidewalk outside waiting for one of a half dozen tables in the tiny space. The Italian menu is not only affordable, but memorable. Starters include baby octopus with white cannellini beans, olives, capers and roasted potatoes---it just might transport you back to the Tuscan countryside. For a standout pasta dish, try the butternut squash pappardelle with wild boar ragù, and for a main course, the veal cutlet with prosciutto, broccoli rabe, fingerling potatoes and Marsala sauce can’t be beat.