A Sicilian Chef Shares His Recipes in NYC

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Tortello filled with ricotta cheese, tomato sauce, parmigiana foam, basil and eggplant
Tortello filled with ricotta cheese, tomato sauce, parmigiana foam, basil and eggplant

I made my way to the far south part of Manhattan to Little Italy, past Chinatown’s stores to a restaurant called Margherita NYC.  Inside, Sicilian chef Giuseppe Costa, who runs restaurant il Baviglino in Palermo.was preparing a four-course feast.

The evening was a bit awkward, if only because of the peculiar seating arrangements, with a table of nine travel and food writers with one empty chair.  The chair remained covered by a coat while I was seated at an adjacent table, away from the conversation.

But I chatted with the staff, and they kept bringing out delectable offering like the pasta with tiny eggplant above, and the veal cheek below.

Veal cheek with Nero d'Avola, chickpea cream and cabbage with fennel seed sauce.
Veal cheek with Nero d’Avola, chickpea cream, and cabbage with fennel seed sauce.

The chef said he was at Margherita for a week, doing cooking demos and replacing the regular chef’s menus with his Sicilian specialties.

Margherita NYC, on Grand Street in Little Italy.
Margherita NYC, on Grand Street in Little Italy.

The veal cheeks were so smooth they melted in my mouth, and the cabbage topping was flecked with a fennel seed sauce, infusing that licorice flavor in with the savory meat.  Delicious!

The chef will be cooking at Margherita all week, 197 Grand St. Manhattan.

Chef Giuseppe Costa from Palermo, Sicily.
Chef Giuseppe Costa from Palermo, Sicily.

Visit the chef’s website.