Leave the Gun, Take the Barolo
A walk through the old neighbourhood, told by someone who grew up inside its stories, that ends at one long table with the wines of Sicily and Piedmont.
Most walks through Little Italy are performed. This one is remembered. We go through Little Italy and NoLIta in the first person, past the storefronts and social clubs that made the neighbourhood's name, and the corners where my family's story happens to have started, before there was a single espresso machine on the block.
It is history, not costume. No fedoras, no props. The register is the same as a week in Burgundy: places entered through their true stories, told by someone with standing to tell them.
The walk ends in a private back room a few steps off Mulberry Street, at one long table. Five wines of Sicily and Piedmont, poured and explained. Nerello from the slopes of Etna to open, Barolo to finish, each chosen because it belongs to some part of the story you've just walked through.
Evenings are $495 a guest at the shared table, or $2,400 for a private party of up to six. I say the price plainly because the room is small and the calendar is short.
What You’ll Actually Do
The storefronts and social clubs that made the neighbourhood famous, and what the cameras across the street were looking at.
The restaurant where one of the city's most retold nights happened, and what actually happened.
The corners where my family's story began, told as memory rather than folklore.
The film locations, and how much of what you've seen was real.
The back-room table: five wines, Sicily to Piedmont, explained the way I'd explain my own cellar.
A last pour, and the story I save for the end.
“Every family has stories. Mine happen to be the kind people make films about. The polite thing to do with a story like that is to set a table for it.”
— Anthony Clemenza
Timing, Honestly
The walk runs rain or shine — the dinner is the anchor, and a wet sidewalk has never once spoiled a table. Book three weeks out; December fills first.
A Glimpse
The Other New York Experiences
Begin Leave the Gun, Take the Barolo
Every evening begins with a conversation. Tell us what you're looking for and we'll build around it.