A few months ago, I was asked to do menu development for a client. When I read the menu, the most egregious dish was a grilled chicken “carbonara” with a rosemary cream sauce. I didn’t have enough space in my eye sockets for a sufficient eyeroll.
When I relayed this crime to Anthony Pepe, chef at DeMarco’s Italian, he made an exaggerated stabbing motion to his heart.
“Why would they do that? Pasta carbonara is one of those Italian pastas perfect in its simplicity,” he said. “No negotiations. Just follow a few time-honored steps and you have a wonderful dish.”
DeMarco’s is approaching its first anniversary, and while this was my first time dining here, a dozen or so of my chef pals chided me for being late to the party.
“Amazing,” “gorgeous” and “New York City legit” were just a few of the comments from those chefs, and after a spectacular meal with Mrs. Malik, we agreed with all of them.
Pepe is a Brooklyn transplant, and many know him from his days as the Pasta Addict. From there, he spent time at Jianna, and now he creates these gorgeous dishes in the shadow of the Greenville Drive stadium. When we dined, he treated us to some of his Valentine’s Day menu: roasted beet salad with whipped ricotta interspersed with pickled beets and beet chips; petit discs of crispy risotto topped with a cool, creamy crab salad and chili oil; and proper wood-fired pizza with pistachios, mortadella and hand-pulled mozzarella.
From Pasta Addict to DeMarco’s
DeMarco’s sommelier, Michael Pickering, provides a polished level of hospitality to our town, and the visual experience of their backlit onyx bar is quite fetching. My wife, Amy, mentioned she felt as if we were in Manhattan or London; the composition of the interior is that arresting. Lisa, our server that night, eased through the bustling dining room as if she were on skates. There is much to love at DeMarco’s.
After indulging in Pepe’s hard work, I asked him about Valentine’s and why so many of us equate pasta with romance.
“It’s that whole ‘Lady and the Tramp’ experience,” he said. “Nothing satisfies our senses like a great pasta dish.”
While he said those words, Amy and I were sharing a dish of his razor-thin tagliatelle pasta with shaved truffles, a bit of pasta water, whole butter and Parmesan. I know it sounds deceptively simple, yet it may have been the finest pasta I have had. And that includes the pasta I’ve made. Pepe smiled and thanked me, and I thought that perhaps those words have healed the wound of that rosemary cream carbonara.
By the time you read this, DeMarco’s will be booked up for Valentine’s Day, but great pasta never goes out of style.
DeMarco’s Italian, located at 366 Field St. in downtown Greenville, is open seven nights a week for dinner; the website has parking tips.
“City Juice” is a colloquial term for a glass of tap water served at a diner. John Malik is a restaurant and hospitality consultant. He can be reached at chefjohnmalik@gmail.com.
