The first welcome comes from the aroma. Woodsmoke mingles with garlic, tomatoes, and fresh herbs, drifting from a 7,000-pound oven handcrafted in Naples of volcanic clay from Mount Vesuvius.
For Accardi, its fire carries the warmth of another time. During the years he lived in Sicily, he watched his grandmother and aunts bake bread and cookies in wood-burning ovens, especially during the holidays.
“The wood-burning oven was magical to me,” he recalls. “I wanted to bring it back to New York.”
Born in the US, Accardi comes from a Sicilian family of chefs, restaurateurs, and others in the food industry. By 14, he was already working in Italian food establishments in Sicily. Years later, he returned with a camera to document the island’s fish markets, olive oil, ancient grains, and the people preserving its culinary traditions.
“I have had a passion for food since I was 13,” he says. “I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted to be a restaurateur.”
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He opened his first New York restaurant, Colas, in Chelsea in 1988 and went on to establish a dozen restaurants. Tavola, however, offered something especially meaningful.
More than a decade ago, Accardi acquired the former home of Manganaro’s Grosseria Italiana in Hell’s Kitchen, a place with more than a century of history.
“When I bought it, it was like a living museum,” he says.
Rather than erase its past, he preserved much of the building’s old-world character. The wood-burning oven became its heart.
Tavola’s Neapolitan pizzas cook in about 90 seconds, emerging with thin, blistered crusts. The clam pizza, simply topped with clams, garlic, and parsley, carries the smoky fragrance Accardi remembers from Italy.
Yet pizza is only part of Tavola’s story. The menu travels through Sicily, Rome, and Puglia. Handmade gnocchi are “light as a cloud,” while a summery pasta Nerano combines zucchini, cheese, and shrimp. In winter, pappardelle arrives with a rich Bolognese of wild boar, veal, and wild mushrooms.
“It reminds me of Sundays in my family’s house,” Accardi says, “when this rich tomato sauce cooked for hours over a low flame.”
Tavola’s spirit is that of an Italian farmhouse kitchen — simple, generous, and grounded in good ingredients. Extra-virgin olive oil comes from Sicily’s Belìce Valley, while pane nero di Castelvetrano is made with ancient Tumminia wheat, giving the rustic bread its dark crust and nutty fragrance.
“This bread has history, character, and soul,” Accardi says.
Perhaps Tavola does, too. It is not a reproduction of Sicily, but a place where its warmth continues to live — in bread shared at the table, the patience of a Sunday sauce, and the comforting fragrance of holiday baking.
As the oven door opens and another breath of woodsmoke drifts through the room, Accardi’s past and present meet around the same flame.
Recipe
Accardi describes puttanesca as a summer dish born from spontaneity — something prepared quickly and instinctively with ingredients already in the kitchen.
Serves 2
Ingredients
Preparation
Warm the olive oil in a frying pan over medium-low heat. Add the optional garlic, red pepper flakes and anchovies. Cook gently until the garlic is pale golden and the anchovies have dissolved. Do not allow the garlic to burn, as it will make the sauce bitter.
Add the olives and capers. Cook for about two minutes, allowing their flavors to release into the oil. Stir in the crushed tomatoes and a small pinch of salt.
Simmer gently over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the flavors are blended. Do not overcook the tomatoes; the sauce should remain fresh and slightly loose.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta in salted water until al dente. Reserve a little pasta water before draining.
Add the pasta to the frying pan and toss over low heat until completely coated. Add a splash of reserved pasta water if needed. Finish with grated Pecorino Romano.
Chef’s Tip: Taste the sauce before adding salt, especially when using anchovies. The anchovies, capers, olives and cheese already bring plenty of savory flavor.
The puttanesca sauce may also be spooned over crostini or used as a warm filling for a panino.
Visit Tavola Wood Oven Trattoria:
488 9th Ave, NYC 10018
(212) 273-1181 www.tavolahellskitchen.com
Original article
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