When it comes to running restaurants big on flavor, vibe and hospitality, chef Brian Burns and business partner Reno De Ranieri are a time-tested dynamic duo. With the opening of Brutto Americano, they have a counterpart to their two Uptown spots, the Spanish restaurant Costera and the Italian restaurant Osteria Lupo.
Open for just more than a month, the new restaurant takes over the space formerly home to Josephine Estelle in what used to be the Ace Hotel. The hotel is now The Barnett hotel, a boutique Hyatt brand, and the restaurant was part of the change in direction. A placeholder restaurant, Trattoria Barnett, was in place until March 14.
“They reached out to us about a year ago,” De Ranieri says. “We believe our hospitality sets us apart, and after multiple visits, they agreed and asked us to come onboard. We’re thrilled and proud of that.”
Although the restaurateurs already have an Italian place, Brutto Americano, which means “ugly American” in Italian, takes a different spin.
“We respect traditional Italian food and we love the wine, but this menu is a little more modern and lighter,” Burns says. “And not too many traditional Italian places have char-grilled oysters with Parmesan and chili flakes on the menu.”
The restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner in a hotel welcoming tourists and group business. Guests can start the day with Tuscan avocado toast or a cheese omelet with provolone. There also are beignets, lemon pancakes and steak and eggs.
“It’s a different clientele, for sure,” Burns says. “Not every cuisine lends itself to breakfast, but Italian does. We’re not done exploring those connections.”
The all-day menu includes a section of house-made pasta. One dish, the blue crab radiatori, made the jump from the Uptown restaurant.
“When I was racking my brain for new menu items, I just figured I’d landed on something fantastic, why would we not include it?” Burns says.
One of the new dishes is gemelli with roasted duck. Burns says it wasn’t something he thought would be a “runaway hit.” But it’s an instantly memorable dish, with confit duck crisped in a hot pan like carnitas along with garlic, shallots, jalapeno and fresh herbs. The pasta is sauced with reduced jus from braising the duck.
Antipasti includes steamed Prince Edward Island mussels in a nduja and tomato broth bright with herbs. “When I was learning to cook at Martinique, moule frites were on the menu there,” Burns says. “It’s a great shareable dish that’s all but disappeared. We wanted it back.”
There also are beef and pork meatballs with ricotta and seared Gulf tuna with mint, lemon and artichoke gremolata.
This isn’t a red gravy Italian restaurant, so there’s no eggplant Parmesan or lasagna in sight. Instead, secondis feature seared scallops in Parmesan broth, a 24-ounce rib-eye and pan-roasted chicken with sun-dried tomato tapenade and sautéed broccoli rabe. There’s also a half-pound burger, in this case topped with roasted mushroom, provolone and pickled peppers.
There’s a four-course tasting menu for $70. “A table of four can taste half of our menu that way,” Burns says. “It’s a fun way to eat.”
For dessert, there’s tiramisu and panna cotta, but also a Sicilian-style cannolo and affogato, a bracing pick-me-up that pairs Maderia ice cream with French Truck expresso.
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The gorgeous Art Deco space has soaring ceilings, a marble bar and an open kitchen; The only change they made was changing the formerly black walls to cerulean blue with white accents and adding gorgeous green velvet banquettes and leather and wood dining chairs.
The pair also are taking over banquets and in-room dining.
“We’ve leaned on a lot of long-time staff members,” Burns says. “We were trying to hold onto as many people as possible. If you’re opening a restaurant, you’re hiring people and bringing them into your place. This was us coming into their space. They are really helping with the transition.”
The partners also are providing the food and beverage for High Five, the beautiful rooftop bar, formerly called Alto. Brunch and happy hour are on the horizon.
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