Brigantessa Launches Cucina Tipica Tasting Menus

A visit to Brigantessa doesn't always mean getting a pizza to shred apart with your hands and knees. Really, the restaurant is so much more than pizza, and although it's hard to imagine (since Brigantessa's beating heart is a 6,500 lb. oven imported from Naples), a quick venture into the other Southern Italian options is an eye-opening experience, that is, if you haven't already.

Starting yesterday, Brigantessa will offer a monthly $45 tasting menu, called Cucina Tipica, with $20 beverage pairing option. Each menu, rotating monthly, focuses on a specific region of Southern Italy, the first being Sicilia, then Puglia, and so on, and so forth. Sicily's menu will rock a chef Joe Cicala-classic, the Timballo: southern Italian baked pasta — this one specifically made of annellini pasta ("little rings"). Elsewhere on the menu: Farsumagru di Maiale, or pork belly and hard-boiled egg stuffed pork loin.

And like everything else at Brigantessa, these Cucina Tipica menus are served family style, meant for everyone to share. Call to make a reservation.