Can Your Italian Food Cravings Be Fulfilled?

A new Italian restaurant is in the making at the former location of Italian eatery Cafe Pertutti, which was boarded up on Feb. 16. Pertutti, a neighborhood staple tucked between Milano Market and Cardomat stationery store, had been in business for over 13 years.

New owner Michael Wetherbeesaid he and his associate Jeremy Wladis—who owns 12 other restaurants, two of which are in New York—believed the neighborhood was lacking a “culinary driven restaurant.” The two men, both of whom live in the area, made an offer to the owner of Cafe Pertutti, whose food Wetherbee described as “fairly average,” an assessment some students agreed with.

“The few times I went there, the food was nothing special and the service was extremely slow, especially because there weren’t a lot of people there,” said
Danielle Adelfio, SEAS ’10, of Pertutti. “The other Italian restaurants in the area, especially a few blocks up on Amsterdam, are certainly worth the walk.”

“Expectations drop as you go up past 86th Street,” Wetherbee said. “Students and residents have to go downtown [for good restaurants].” With this in mind, Wetherbee hopes to offer Morningside Heights “an Italian charcuterie that pays attention to seasonality with a heavy emphasis on quality service.”

“When someone is in your restaurant, you don’t know whether they go out to dinner often or if this is their one night out,” Wetherbee said. “It’s really important to make people feel like they got their money’s worth.”

The new, as-yet-unnamed restaurant will feature an antipasto section with fresh grilled vegetables, meats, and cheeses, a 25-seat bar, a private dining area, and a space reserved for parties. The front area will include communal tables for groups of up to 12 people.

“It will be a new lounge experience following the cutting edge cocktail menu trend for the neighborhood, as opposed to a dollar bar,” Wetherbee said.

The building is undergoing Italian rustic farmhouse renovations. The end result will be similar in style to Nonna Restaurant, one of Wladis’s enterprises on 85th Street and Columbus Avenue.

Wetherbee is open to suggestions for a name, and is offering a free dinner for four to the person who has the best idea.

The restaurant will be open from 11 a.m. to 4 a.m., and will offer a late night menu and an industry discount on cocktails and wine for local restaurant workers. The grand opening is scheduled tentatively for the week of March 15-21, but the final date depends on the progress of the renovations.

gabriela.jara@columbiaspectator.com