Restaurant Radar: The Pasta Project by da Toscano hopes to be da hit

2020 will be remembered as the year fine dining chefs were able to loosen their belts in public. Sure, if you’e been covering food long enough, you know no chef is going to admit a menu item is just on there because it will turn a profit, or because they really want to win the praise of critics with their creativity. Most chefs will use a phrase like, “We just serve the dishes we love to eat” or “it reminds me of the dishes I grew up eating.” I’ve learned that no matter how haughty a haute cuisine appears, when it comes down to it, all we really want to comfort us during trying times is burgers, pasta, and pizza.

The Pasta Project NYC is the result of what happens when a veteran chef realizes the public would just as well pay for a delicious burger in a to-go container as they would a three-course meal when dining out on a Saturday night. But we can’t talk about The Pasta Project without explaining da Toscano first.

Chef Michael Toscano’s da Toscano opened in January 2020 to rave reviews, so much so that it made Esquire’s annual Best New Restaurant List . I had the good fortune of checking out da Toscano pre-COVID, and I’ll try to sum up my experience as briefly as possible so we can all get on with our lives. The space at 24 Minetta Lane in NYC’s Greenwich Village is meant to be a restaurant. That’s why when Michael Toscano announced he would be leaving Charleston, SC to open a new restaurant in the space formerly known as Perla, a restaurant he and his wife Caitlin managed, a sigh of relief swept over the neighborhood. This was a chef that NYC didn’t want to lose, particularly to an upstart culinary hotspot like Charleston, and yet we stood by and watched as the picturesque Perla went into storage, a forgotten escape on one of Manhattan’s most romantic side streets. So to say this new opening was highly anticipated is an under statement.

Upon dining at da Toscano, it would be hard not fo feel that you stumbled into a dimly lit hideaway brightened by the warm glow of a wood fired oven. Ideal for a romantic date night or a celebratory group dinner, it was everything a modern restaurant could offer. You had a great bar scene for solo dining. A view into the kitchen. A seat near the oven in case you love seeing food cooked over fire. But seats and views aren’t the main reason people spend money: they came for food! And da Toscano’s menu of regional Italian fare delivered, because you don’t make best of lists by offering underwhelming food. Gnocchi here came with frozen foie gras terrine, and if you didn’t fill up on pasta, you’d find pork chop dusted with fennel and osso bucco that would make even grandma admit they’d been bested. For a cuisine with so many options and interpretations in NYC, perhaps the best compliment I could say is that da Toscano is the NYC Italian restaurant that put all others on notice. Also, their cheesecake is the ONLY one I’ve found to outdo my own grandmother’s, and considering a grandma’s cheesecake is something grandchildren must hold dear to our hearts, I’m admitting something that will make me an outcast for all future family gatherings.

But this write up isn’t about da Toscano even though half of my word count is now dedicated to its praise, it’s about The Pasta Project by da Toscano. Gotta love branding, right? What you’ll want to know is that this project is a delivery and take out only experiment. The menu revolves around focaccia style pizza, so expect a soft and fluffy crust. There are four styles to choose from including vodka, white, marinara, and pepperoni, and you can even order them by the slice if you’re so inclined. Who else offers pizza delivery by the slice?

You’ll also find a selection of the restaurant’s handmade pastas like lumachi and linguine, and specials like a smash burger made with Pat Lafrieda beef blend. There’s meatballs, garlic bread, and their delicious sour cream cheesecake if you’re gunning for a sweatpants kinda night. You can place an order using a service like Caviar.

A smashburger is a smashing way to address those hunger pains Photo: @thepastaproject

Though we long for the days of dining inside da Toscano, we completely endorse chefs going out of their way to deliver comfort food to our doorstep, and hope The Pasta Project becomes an ongoing assignment we all have the chance to learn from.