Corvo Bianco, the Italian restaurant taking over the former home of Calle Ocho on Columbus Avenue and 81st street, is set to open its doors to the public next Monday, July 15. The opening is already generating quite a bit of buzz because the restaurant landed a well-known chef earlier this year, and the renovation work on the space is pretty extensive.
Corvo Bianco is spacious. There’s a bar at the front of the restaurant with seating for 20 to 30 people, a main dining room, and a smaller bar and seating area toward the back. The main dining room, as shown above, has a large greenhouse-type skylight and booth seating against the wall. “[T]he whole room feels very gothic, with a raised glass ceiling letting in pleasantly soft, natural light,” wrote Gothamist’s Marc Yearsley, who attended a preview on Monday night.
Chef Elizabeth Falkner made a name for herself as a pastry chef in San Francisco, and was most recently working as a chef at Italian restaurant Krescendo in Brooklyn. She has appeared on television shows like Iron Chef and Top Chef, and apparently won first place at a pizza-making contest in Naples, Italy. And they know their pizza in Naples.
There will be pizza available at the bar, and the food served in main dining room will “celebrate the Italian coast.” Says Grubstreet: “Falkner is cooking seasonally driven dishes like grilled quail with corn and cherries, burrata with summer squash, and spaghetti with stone crab (plus gluten-free gnudi).” We have posted the dinner and dessert menus below. The drinks menu is still in the works. Open Table is already taking reservations on the Corvo Bianco website. The number is 212-595-2624.
Corvo Bianco DINNER by westsiderag
Corvo Bianco DOLCI by westsiderag
Photos by Alphonso Merchand, courtesy of Corvo Bianco.
Atkins friendly Italian, and not just cold cut finger food? Yup.
Rabbit? Who can eat a little fluffy bunny?
Don’t love the menu, very trendy. How many rabbit dinners will you sell a night? No chicken? The food wil have to be amazing. It will hurt Machiavelli the most.
With all respect, the UWS has more than enough traditional Italian (and traditional everything). A little creativity would be truly welcome. And rabbit tastes very similar to chicken, hence the cacciatore preparation.
This menu looks pretty inspired and is really a pleasant surprise.
Rabbit cacciatore isn’t trendy, it is Italian peasant food.
I still miss the rabbit ragu over pappardelle that Cafe Fiorello offered (when they had a good menu)…and the desserts sound good as well.
I, for one, am excited to try it!
FYI the number isn’t working and Open Table says the restaurant isn’t available yet.
Just went to Corvo Bianco last night for their opening. Had wine and shared a meal with a friend at the bar. The food was solid, nothing earth shattering. Service and meal cadence was a bit wonky, but that’s expected for a first night. I really enjoyed the Burrata salad and seared scallops. Just wish that there was MORE of it for a $22 plate. Expect to pay slightly more for such a lush, open environment.