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With their playful spin on Italian cuisine, Downtown’s Cacio e Pepe and the Upper West Side’s Spiga are hits among locals, but they’re still playing to a somewhat limited audience. Now chef Salvatore Corea and partner Alessandro Peluso are kicking things up a notch with the opening of Bocca in Gramercy, a neighborhood packed with culinary heavyweights.

This latest bambino aims a bit higher than their current neighborhood go-tos: Bocca’s “creative Roman” menu is probably Corea’s most ambitious, and the digs are styled to make foodies and scenesters alike feel at home.

Flavor and ingredient combinations border on the provocative: octopus salad with salmon roe, for example, or black-olive sorbet. The playfulness works better in appetizers like chilled-tomato-and-strawberry soup with avocado and fried mussels.

There’s heartier fare as well. Shrimp comes with pancetta and a buffalo-ricotta-cheese fondue that’s perfect for sopping up Italian peasant bread. And the cacio e pepe, a pungent and peppery pasta dish tossed tableside in a hollowed-out Pecorino cheese wheel, is a carryover from the duo’s East Village outpost and is just as tasty.

Bocca isn’t a small-plates restaurant, so you’ll likely have some appetite left over come dessert time. Panna cotta infused with basil might be a stretch for some, but rich coffee mousse with sambuca gelatin will be finito in seconds.

Booze: The cocktail list just might tempt you from the standard Chianti route. The Aperolinha is an herbaceous homage to the caipirinha, with cachaca, aperol, lime and brown sugar. And a Corpo Reviver marries Beefeater, elderflower liquor, lemon juice, lillet blanc and a splash of fernet branca.

Digs: It’s an inviting scene, with a warm votive-fueled glow and ample space between each table. Low-slung cream-colored banquettes ring the modest-sized dining room, and an oversize poster of Fellini’s “Roma” hangs from an ochre wall done up in Venetian plaster.

Service: Even on slower evenings, menus are in no hurry to arrive at the table (nor is the check), but once engaged servers are helpful. Those thick Italian accents are reassuring when you hear the regional dishes being described (and yep, they’re the real deal—those are their Vespas parked out front).

Vibe: So far it’s the kind of mix that keeps things interesting: a smattering of Murray Hill types, fashionistas and Italian lovers not so discreetly canoodling. Background jazz ramps up in tempo—and volume—to St. Germain as the evening wears on (folks here aren’t necessarily going straight to bed after their meal).

Net results: what people are saying online

[The Strong Buzz] "It’s been tough going in that space since Café Adulus vacated a few years ago…but Peluso and Corea should be able to jive the bad omen out of the place.”

[Yelp] “We stopped in for a quick bite and stayed for hours. The drinks were incredible, the service was spectacular and the food was amazing.”

[Grub Street] "Alessandro Peluso and his chef-partner Salvatore Corea serve what they call creative Roman cuisine—or at least their interpretation of it."

[Chowhound] “Delicious food (including an excellent cacio e pepe), friendly service, and a space with modern decor and a hip feel.”

[Menupages] “I have eaten at Cacio e Pepe and I liked this one even better.”

Bocca
39 E. 19th St. between Park Ave. S. and Broadway
212-387-1200
Entrees: $14-$23
Hours: Mon.-Thu. 12 p.m.-11 p.m., Fri. 12 p.m.-11:30 p.m.,
Sat. 5:30 p.m.-11:30 p.m., Sun. 5:30 p.m.-10:30 p.m.
Cash and AmEx only

Photo by Aaron Barker

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