Il Totano, a new coastal Italian restaurant in the West Village, is exciting for many reasons—a dry-aged seafood program, Capri vibes, and, most importantly, the return of the first-ever Top Chef winner Harold Dieterle (Perilla, Kin Shop, The Marrow) after a long hiatus.
With Il Totano, Dieterle is leaning into the growing excitement for dry-aged fish citywide, but he’s also fully embracing a childhood passion. He grew up in West Babylon, where he learned to fish from his grandfather, and he’s eager to share that love through his menu.
He’s teamed up with restaurateur Alexandra Shapiro—who also celebrated family nostalgia with the opening of UES’s Hoexters last year—and together they’ve reimagined an old Flex Mussels location (also owned by Shapiro) into the transportive Italian restaurant it is today.
Read on for all the exciting details on Dieterle’s grand return to the New York restaurant scene.
What to eat
Dry-aged fish is undoubtedly one of the biggest draws on the menu—you can see the process in a humidity-controlled chamber as you make your way to the dining room. “Dry aging fish improves its flavor and texture while also increasing shelf-life,” Dieterle says. “The final product also has a wonderfully crisp skin.”
Go for the branzino with Sicilian green beans, so you can get a taste of that crispiness Dieterle is referring to.
Plus, the menu is full of childhood nods for both Dieterle and Shapiro. The spaghetti with Dungeness crab pays tribute to Dieterle’s crabbing trips with his grandfather off the docks of Babylon. “This is a dish my mom, my grandmother, and all my aunts cooked,” Dieterle says. The chicken marsala, meanwhile, will give you a peek into Shapiro’s early years on the Upper East Side. “My Jewish grandmother used to cook these ridiculous meals for all four grandchildren,” she says. “Whatever we wanted, she would cook, and we loved her chicken marsala.”
What to drink
Dieterle’s roots are in southern Italy, and the wine list similarly spotlights producers from the region in a menu of 60 bottles and 15 wines by the glass curated by sommelier Catherine Hooper.
There are plenty of fun cocktails you should consider, too, like the Bitter Giuseppe with Chaparral liqueur, orange, and grapefruit juice; and The Capri with a mix of rums, amaro, and lemon.
Where to sit
Much like the food, the interiors are transportive, too. Blue-and-white-striped wallpaper is reminiscent of a coastal patio awning and the Art Deco-inspired dark walnut bar feels like it’s straight off a boat. “We were going for a Mediterranean yacht vacation kind of vibe,” Shapiro says.
The bar room is where you’ll want to be for a “see and be seen” kind of vibe, while the main sunken dining room in the back is more chill with its u-shaped booths and mahogany tables that seat groups of two and four. When the weather warms up, head outside to grab one of the four sidewalk tables.
When to go
Dieterle hopes more people will opt for bookings later than the most popular 6 pm and 6:30 pm slots, so they can truly experience the full breadth of the restaurant’s ’70s and ’80s rock music program that changes throughout the night. “We hope that people will stay, linger, and eat later,” he says.
The restaurant is open Sunday to Thursday from 5 pm to 10 pm and Friday and Saturday from 5 pm to 11 pm.
Known for her pioneering food blog, The Strong Buzz, Andrea covers restaurants, chefs, trends, and big picture stories about the intersection of food, business, policy and the law for publications such as The New York Times, Fast Company, Food & Wine, New York Magazine, Eater, and more. She lives, eats, and loads and unloads the dishwasher in Brooklyn. Follow her on Instagram, @strongbuzz_.
