In a throwback to the days of private Italian social clubs on Mulberry Street, the duo behind saturday brunches at Via dei Mille will open Speakeasy, an invite-only "supper party" on Little Italy's main drag this Thursday. Speakeasy will leave the gun, bake the cannolis and expect the mobs. Matthew Schultz and Franco Poporino Jr. will run the dinner club on Thursdays only. Expect guest chefs, surprise DJs and a prix fixe menu (at a cool $100) loaded with red sauce staples.
Invited guests will choose one antipasti, one pasta, one entree and get a dessert platter to finish it all off. See full menu below. My dream meal: lobster sliders, orrechiette vealatta, hangar steak and, of course, cannolis. (Note that cannolis are not guaranteed on the preview, but expected by me.)
Between Speakeasy and Torrisi just up (or down, since we don't know exactly where Speakeasy is on Mulberry) the street, it seems like Little Italy, whose future is constantly fretted over, might stick around. Even if the old school locals don't recognize its latest incarnation.