Show Me a Sign: Costata

Signage has gone up recently at Costata, Michael White's three-story Italian steakhouse opening tomorrow night in the former Fiamma space. White got his New York City start in Fiamma's kitchen as the executive chef when the restaurant opened in 2002. Ahmass Fakahany, who is now White's partner in the Altamarea Group, was a regular there. His favorite thing on Fiamma's menu was a pasta with truffle cream, peas, prosciutto, and parm. That's why you'll find "Garganelli alla Fiamma" on the Costata menu.

PJ Calapa, who also runs the kitchen at White's Ai Fiori in midtown, is Costata's executive chef. In addition to pasta, crudo, and seafood, the steakhouse menu will have filet cuts, strips, ribeye (boneless and bone-in), porter house, porter house for two, and tomahawk for two in addition to lamb and veal. Seven sauces are available to pair with the array of steak options.

Eben Freeman, who will also run the cocktail program at Altamarea Group's Tribeca project the Butterfly when that opens in the coming weeks, is in charge of the bar program at Costata. Hristo Zisovski, who joined the Altamarea Group in 2010 after seven years at Jean Georges, is the beverage director.

Costata's three floors seat around 170. A small standing bar and 35 seats make up the first. The second has an eight person bar, lounge, and 65 seats, and the top floor is a private event space that can accomodate up to 60 guests.

Costata opens tomorrow night.

Abracadabra, Fiamma Costata

Michael White made his New York debut in 2002 as the executive chef of Fiamma. The restaurant closed at the beginning of 2009 and has sat dormant since, but former building owner, BR Guest’s Steve Hanson, recently sold it. The new owners have leased the space to White and his business partner Ahmass Fakahany, and while the ghost of Fiamma still stands, the pending project marks the third on Altamarea Group’s horizon.

The Butterfly has been on our radar the longest, having been granted a liquor license almost a year ago last March. The smallish, 55-seat space will be opening this spring on West Broadway in Tribeca. Butterfly's menu will be inspired by White's Midwest upbringing, and bartender extraordinaire Eben Freeman, who hasn't worked behind a bar since his time at Tailor over two years ago, has been resurrected to head-up the cocktail program.

The Upper West Side will welcome White later this year on Madison and 86th Street, where Ristorante Morini will open in the former Centolire space. The restaurant will be an uptown, upscale version of the more casual Osteria Morini, which has locations in Soho and Jersey. The two-story 1167 Madison Avenue address will have a cafe downstairs with white tablecloth dining on the upper level, and the menu will take a broader tour of Italy's cuisine, rather than the Emilia Romagna-focused fare served at Osteria.

The new SoHo restaurant taking over the Fiamma space is going to be called Costata, the Italian name for a particular cut of beef, which suggests this might be White's first go at a steakhouse. Costata will likely happen after The Butterfly and Ristorante Morini, but this early in the year, a 2013 opening isn't out of the question.

Another One for Michael White's Altamarea Group?

In addition to the Butterfly and Ristorante Morini, Michael White and his partner Ahmass Fakahany may have another project in the works. The Post learns that BR Guest's Stephen Hanson sold the building at 206 Spring Street that once housed Fiamma, and that the new owner has leased out the three storys of restaurant space to White's Altamarea Group.

Should White open a restaurant in the former space, it would complete a sort of culinary circle in his career. He was the original chef at Fiamma when the restaurant opened in 2002. White left in 2006 to take Scott Conant's place at L'Impero before going on to build his AMG Empire. "The buyer was Corigin Real Estate Group," the Post notes, and "sources said White has been “in and out” of the Spring Street location."

The possiblilty of another new venture comes just in time. Michael White will be speaking on the topic of restaurant expansion at the Gabarron Foundation December 5th with Danny Bowien and Andy Ricker. Tickets for that event are $50 for non members and $35 for members. [NYPost] [Culintro]