Best of New York 2011 • Eating

• Torrisi Italian Specialties

  250 Mulberry St., nr. Prince St. 212-965-0955

  If you don’t know exactly what you’re getting into at this newfangled Little Italy joint, the first course of the $50 prix fixe will clue you in. That’s when Mario Carbone and Rich Torrisi unleash the opening salvo of small plates that are nominally Italian-American and wholly inventive, channeling childhood taste memories through the prism of classical French training and mostly local sourcing. The four antipasti change nightly, so you never know what bit of inspired whimsy you might encounter�a melting mass of Parisi Bakery’s salami bread, topped with lemon-zested baccalà, say, or a cucumber salad with pickles procured from an Essex Street shop. The one constant is the housemade mozzarella slicked in olive oil and Greenmarket cream, and served with a slice of aromatic garlic bread that will haunt your dreams.

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