EAT WITH YOUR EYES

Inside Burrasca's New Brick-and-Mortar

The former Florentine food cart opens its doors on Southeast Clinton.

By Benjamin Tepler July 14, 2015

Left: Each table at Burrasca is dedicated to one of the very Italian characters from Calamai’s small-town Florentine youth. Right: Inzimino, the dish that started it all: an umami-bomb of slowly braised squid in a rich, garlicky sauce of tomato, red wine, and spinach.

The new Clinton space seats 40, with a big, family-style table in back and a back patio with 10 additional seats.

Left: A lightly battered selection of super-crunchy seasonal vegetables, bell pepper to eggplant. Right: Crostini di feganti: creamy chicken liver pate, smeared over thick-crusted Tuscan bread and topped with melting vin santo gelatina.

Plump gnudi, bound with ricotta and spinach, sitting in a luxurious bath of olive oil and crispy sage.

Paolo Calamai, the always-smiling 51-year-old chef/owner and Florence native.

The dining room at Burrasca, flying under the exclamation “viva la pappa col pomodoro,” or “hooray for the tomato bread soup!” from the Italian children’s book, Giornali di Gian Burrasca. (It’s also an item on the menu).

Right: Palambo: a dish of THRESHER SHARK (really) simmered in thick, garlicky tomato sauce, snuggled with a pile of melted Swiss chard and a side order of cannellini beans with garlic and sage.

The lunch-only “cinque e cinque” or “5 & 5” sandwich, holding fried chickpea and grilled eggplant marinated in parsley, garlic, and chile pepper. The name comes from its heritage as a two-nickel sandwich in Livorno during the economical 1950’s.

Tagliatelle: Silky ribbons of pasta with rich, slow-stewed beef ragu and a generous dusting of parmesan.

Burrasca, the Tuscan-Florentine food cart that blew us all away last year with its Italian comfort, slow-simmered, garlic-forward flavors, and 'Big Night' personality, opened its doors on July 14 after months of Kickstarter campaigning. Its new home (2032 SE Clinton St), is largely unchanged from its former life as Block’s Café, save for a few photographs and mementos from the Old Country. Owners Paolo Calamai (a Florentine native) and his partner Elizabeth Petrosian are busy whipping up their new menu, a short list of cart favorites and newly revived Tuscan classics. Click through the slideshow above for a first look.

Burrasca
2032 SE Clinton St
Lunch: 11:30 am-2:30 pm,
Dinner: 5-9 pm

Eat With Your Eyes

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Inside Burrasca's New Brick-and-Mortar

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