Meatballs aren’t usually a gateway to bump and grind.
But with the late October opening of Pulcinella! restaurant at 1300 St. Bernard Ave., that’s on the menu now.
The 52-seat restaurant is a partnership between burlesque performer Bella Blue, her husband Andy Principe, an owner at Palm & Pine, and J.D. Solomon, a retired, self-described “tech nerd” whose son is the Indianapolis burlesque performer Boybarella.
Pulcinella!
Where
1300 St. Bernard Ave.; dirtydimeproductions.com/pulcinella
When
Dinner Thu.-Mon.
How
Dine-in
Check it out
A new home-style Italian restaurant in the 7th Ward
There is a performance space above the restaurant, in what was originally the Original Nite Cap bar, which opened in 1967. Now it is the Original Nite Cap Speakeasy, and Blue and her troupe of dancers use it to perform everything from drag to burlesque. Soon, a new studio will offer pole dancing classes as well. Diners are welcome upstairs without a cover charge.
“Dinner and a show,” Bella Blue says. “I call burlesque affordable luxury. It’s exciting and fun.”
The restaurant’s name, Pulcinella!, refers to a spunky clown puppet from Italian commedia dell’arte, a popular form of theater originating in the 16th century. It was the inspiration for the Punch and Judy puppet comedies dating back to Victorian England. Blue has long been fascinated with the sassy little character and collected figurines during her travels over the years.
Chef Matty Hayes is in the kitchen. He, Principe and Blue are all locals. “The farthest I ever got was Baton Rouge to go to LSU, and I got back as fast as I could,” Hayes says.
Both Principe and Hayes have Sicilian roots, making this a passion project doused in grandma’s red gravy. “We just feel that the Sicilian influence on our cuisine doesn’t always get its due,” says Hayes, whose past gigs include running the kitchen at Marjie’s Grill and working with Michael Gulotta at Tana. The team designed the menu to channel Italian home cooking, but a little bit elevated, says Blue, whose title is “Headmistress of Hospitality.”
Hayes sources ingredients and seafood locally, while keeping the menu approachable in price. Appetizers are in the $12-$18 range, and most entrees are well under $30.
On the primi section, there’s an oyster artichoke soup that brings Hayes back to his grandmother’s table. Crowned with fried P&J oysters, the soup is rich with pureed artichoke flavor and cream. An oversized beef and pork meatball is served with red gravy, a dollop of whipped ricotta bright with lemon zest, and toasted homemade focaccia on the side. For pasta, seafood cannelloni is enough for two to share. The hand-rolled pasta is filled with ricotta and crab, finished in a Newburg seafood sauce, and garnished with slivers of sun-dried tomatoes and a drizzle of Calabrian chili oil.
The grilled market fish reflects what’s biting in the Gulf. It’s currently served with cannellini bean ragu and a fresh arugula salad. There’s also eggplant Parmesan, grilled steak tagliata with béarnaise and smoked pork steak with bacon fat creamed broccoli rabe.
For dessert, there is the Italian-meets-New-York-style cheesecake made with house-made goat milk ricotta and cream cheese on a graham cracker crust. It is topped with fresh blueberry compote, spiced blueberry sorbet and fresh mint.
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Although Principe attended Cornell University, he didn’t study in the school’s prestigious hospitality department. Instead, he majored in health sciences, putting himself through school by working in fine dining, which became an obsession. When he’s not healthcare consulting, he’s at Palm & Pine or onsite at Pulcinella! as co-owner/operator and wine consultant, working with beverage director Jeri Guilford on a list of small, Italian wine producers and creative cocktail offerings.
The restaurant is open for dinner from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. Thursday through Monday, and the upstairs bar opens at 6 p.m. for drinks and performances. Photos of retro burlesque dancers and Blue’s memorabilia adorn the space.
“We’re just getting started. I’d always wanted to have my own performance space,” she says. “Chris Owens was really the only woman who did that; she was the gold standard. Andy and I talked about opening a little restaurant with space for a dance studio for me. When we met with the building owner and realized what was upstairs, we knew it was perfect.”