Le Virtu And Brigantessa Are Bringing The Heat In July


Joe Cicala at La Panarda | Photo by Alex Tewfik

Joe Cicala at La Panarda | Photo by Alex Tewfik

This summer, both of Joe Cicala‘s Italian restaurants, Le Virtu and Brigantessa, will be celebrating “La Sagra del Peperoncino”–a week-long party dedicated to the love of the Calabrese hot pepper called diavolicchi or “little devil.”

Starting on Monday, July 11, Brigantessa will be offering four additional menu items, all featuring the peperoncini Calabresi. And all of them sound kind of awesome:

Antipasto: Crostini with in-house ‘nduja, stracciatella cheese, extra virgin olive oil
Pizza: Montanara, eggplant peperoncino, lemon whipped sheep’s milk ricotta
Pasta: Struncatura, Manila clams, Calabresi chilies, toasted breadcrumbs
Dessert: Spicy Calabrese orange marmalade crostata, with chocolate cayenne gelato

Then, on Sunday, July 17, there’s going to be an outdoor party in Le Virtu’s campo garden to close out the week, featuring its own menu full of spicy Abbruzzese food featuring the little devil peppers. The board for the day will include bruscette with peperoncino jam, pasta with garlic, oil and hot pepper, grilled spicy Abruzzese sausages and desserts like pastries and gelato also spiked with hot pepper.

Yes, there will be Italian beer and wine to wash it all down with, and everything is going to be pay-as-you-go, so you don’t even have to worry about tickets or anything. Just come on down, have a snack, grab a drink and celebrate the Calabrese hot pepper in the best possible way.

Brigantessa [f8b8z]
Le Virtu [f8b8z]