Nicoletta's Goose Egg

If Nicoletta was the first restaurant in Michael White and business partner Ahmass Fakahany's empire there would be no fusilli with octopus and bone marrow.  Nor would there be the rich, delicious Emilia-Romagna-inspired preparations that exist on Lafayette Street at Osteria Morini.  White certainly wouldn't have crossed the Hudson to Jersey and his Altamarea Group's newly signed lease on the Upper East Side would have a John Hancock other than his own.  After reading Pete Wells' goose egg review of Nicoletta, this is the direction it seems Michael White's career would have taken had he not established himself first as the guru of Italian cuisine that he legitimately is.

Nicoletta is the newest addition to White's empire.  It's a pizza place he opened in June on Second Avenue in the East Village that Wells has zero stars for.  As it turns out, the only dishes he recommends are the cucumbers in white balsamic vinegar and the ice cream.  "Mr. White has said he engineered the dough to stand up to the rigors of delivery and reheating with no loss of quality. In that, at least, he has succeeded. Warmed up a day or two later, a Nicoletta crust is just as stiff and bland as when it was fresh from the oven."

Straying from the pizzas doesn't reveal "White’s prodigious talent for cooking Italian food that can make you dizzy with pleasure."  "The insalata mare with clams, mussels, squid and octopus, all as tender as an extension cord, all bathed in a dressing that had no effect on any of it."

White's decade cooking here in New York has found him behind the stoves at six restaurants to be graced by Time's critics.  Fiamma, Alto, L'Impero, Convivio, Marea, and Ai Fiori have tallied 17 stars for the Wisconsin native.  Nicoletta, unfortunately, has none to spare.

$10 Pasta Night at Osteria Morini

The deal with "Industry Night" is any of the pastas on Osteria Morini's menu are $10.  The special may only run an hour and a half but, it turns out, a couple of friends and a craving for gluten is all you need to taste through the pastas, which are all homemade.  The deal runs through August.  Digest NY was there last night.

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Michael White is Watering his Altamarea Plant

Michael White is the culinary mind behind a growing number of restaurants.  His Altamarea Group owns Marea, Ai Fiori, Osteria Morini, and Nicoletta here in the city, in addition to property in New Jersey and Hong Kong. Butterfly is scheduled to open later this year under the Altamarea umbrella in Tribeca, with a solid cocktail program and food inspired by White's Midwest upbringing.

Today, Flo Fab reports the empire is heading uptown.  Michael White and his business partner Ahmass Fakahany signed a lease for an Upper East Side space. The name? Ristorante Morini. It will fill the two levels of 1167 Madison Avenue (@85th Street), with a cafe planned for downstairs and a white table cloth affair on the upper level. The restaurant will serve Italian cuisine that falls somewhere between that of Osteria Morini and Marea.

Mr. Fakahany refers to the company's expansions as part of the "Morini brand." It is a philosophy woven through Altamarea Group's vision that makes for duplicatable restaurants and leaves endless room for growth.

Nicoletta Attacks Gotham City Friday

Ed Levine and Adam Kuban are the culinary version of Batman and Robin.  The difference is, crime doesn't motivate them, pizza does.  Ed Levine wrote a book called Pizza: A Slice of Heaven.  His pal Adam Kuban writes a colum for Seriouseats called Slice, a NYC based weblog that's dedicated to pizza.  Their extensive knowledge of all things pizza is why they're able to bring us this detailed, first-look at Nicoletta, Michael White's new pizzeria opening in the East Village this Friday, June 15th.

Nicoletta is a break from Michael White's refined, attention-to-detail driven Italian cooking made famous at Marea, Osteria Morini and Ai Fiori.  The East Village haunt is inspired by a place called Domenico's in White's hometown of Beloit, Wisconsin.  It will serve 12 and 16-inch pizzas, a traditional lasagna, and one flavor of gelato to guests dining indoors or out, in any of the 38 sidewalk seats.

A whole milk mozzarella from Wisconsin will top certain pizzas and beers from the same state are available to wash them down.  According to a Times article, "every table is fitted with metal sockets in which the stems of cantilevered pizza stands are placed."  This is done to free up table space.  Eater has some awesome pictures of an empty dining room, probably your last chance to see it that way.