People will not stop talking about Torrisi Italian Specialties.

The Torrisi guys have saved traditional locally-sourced rustic Italian cuisine! The Torrisi guys have revamped the San Genarro festival and made Mulberry Street hipster-foodie approved! The Torrisi guys have revolutionized mozzarella by putting it on a stick! There has been so much non-stop buzz around these guys and their Italian food cottage industry that I decided it was high time to check out all the buzz for myself. And I'll admit it, I arrived a little skeptical -- after all these guys have more hype surrounding them than that time Angelina & Brad walked through that airport.

My skepticism was magnified when I found out that in order to dine at Torrisi one must queue up at 4:30pm and wait for a host to mysteriously appear from behind a literal veil of lace curtains for the opportunity to get one of three seatings for later that night. When you walk by the Mulberry street storefront in mid-afternoon, there is a line of fidgety foodies clamoring to be invited past the veiled window. What the old fashion window coverings are protecting is a mystery that only adds to aura and hype. Perhaps the veil is to protect the patrons who've made it in from the glaring oohs and ahhs of onlookers. Or perhaps instead to protect the passer-bys from the splendor that exists just beyond their reach. No matter what the reason the whole meal felt shrouded in secrecy and wonder. And I found it particularly comical when a random couple walked in at 8:30pm and asked for a table on the spot...ha! Those imbeciles! Don't they know what the rest of us have gone through to eat here?!?

Anyway, once we were finally seated and the wine started flowing I began to see, and be swept into, the hype. There is no formal menu, only an ever evolving prefix where the only choice your faced with is between two entrees. Luckily my table is the sharing kind so we get to try it all. We began with oysters - 2 per person - to get our palates going. Then on to the hand-pulled, house-made mozzarella in DaVero olive oil accompanied by buttery garlic bread with tomato (good start). Next the broccoli salad with crispy shallots (yum). Followed by the deliciously tender grilled octopus doused in a pepperoni vinaigrette (really delicious). The extremely delicate lambs tongue gyro followed (unbelievable). The dirty duck ragu over perfectly al dente Gemellis (holy cow that was yummy). Then onto the mains; Skate with pickled cauliflower and spicy Devil's Chicken over tangy yogurt (YAY!). We ended the meal with a venerable cornucopia of Italian pasties (and we asked for seconds of a few). Another bottle of wine and we called it a night. [Actually we sang like 20 rounds of karaoke at a bar around the corner but then we called it a truly satisfying night.]

And I'll admit, with all the buzz surrounding these guys and their recent food endeavors it was wonderful to walk away feeling that you can actually believe the hype.

Torrisi Italian Specialties
250 Mulberry Street