Earlier this week, Chef Jason Dady (twitter.com/@chefjasondady) started teasing his Twitter followers with mysterious posts like "T-minus 48 hours" and "T-minus 24 hours." He stubbornly ignored all inquiries; WHAT happens in 24 hours??? Then Friday evening, he posted, "T-minus 19 hours"....and a photo showing the logo for Tre Trattoria Downtown.
He told us that when he opened Restaurant Insignia (at the Fairmount Hotel), he was hoping to draw downtown tourists to chef-driven food. But he has discovered that's not what they want. "Put a big plate of pasta in front of them, and they're happy," he told us. Timing things carefully to catch a lull between conventions, he closed Insignia on Wednesday, thus commencing a mad 48-hour rush to convert the menu and restaurant to Tre Trattoria Downtown. (He's been planning the change for months, but kept it very quiet.)
The lunch and dinner menu is very similar (if not identical) to the original Tre Trattoria on Broadway (which is still open). But the downtown location also features brunch on Saturdays and Sundays from 10:00am to 3:00pm. We headed downtown yesterday to be one of the first to sample the new menu.
An extensive list of $1 mimosas (for the first two) remains, as does the barbeque bloody mary (which proved too spicy for me on this visit). But the brunch menu has been reworked to reflect a Tuscan theme.
Featured menu items include a breakfast panini, a chef's daily frittata, and a breakfast pizza. Bruce thouroughly enjoyed his steak and eggs, featuring a filet, hollandaise, and perfectly cooked potatoes. My creamy mascarpone polenta (pictured) melted in the mouth. Others raved on Twitter about the biscuits. We are looking forward to trying all the other items; they all sounded delicious.
Good luck, Chef Jason, on your newest venture!
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