il Brigante, New York

The passionate staff at Il Brigante enrapture palates with a menu of steaming pasta slathered in slow-cooked ragus, tender cutlets of chicken and veal, and savory pies toasting beneath imported meats and cheeses. The trattoria pays tribute to the culinary culture of southern Italy, taking its name from the Robin Hood-esque brigands that wandered the hills of Calabria to ensure that regardless of income, only the worthy received the last slice of pizza. The décor exudes a rustic European air, with bottles and woven baskets hanging from exposed-brick walls as the open-air pizza counter lends glimpses of chefs tossing dough disks high into the air before roasting them to sizzling perfection in the wood-burning stone oven.