Il Torchio Slated to Open Aug. 18!

Il Torchio (from NY Magazine):458 Myrtle Ave., nr. Washington Ave., Clinton Hill, Brooklyn; 718-422-1122 Cousins Peter and Frank Costabile are Brooklyn landlords and real-estate developers, and they put their own construction experience to good use at Il Torchio, the rustic Italian wine-and-tapas bar they plan to open the instant the liquor license arrives. The cousins built the brick-arched, tin-ceilinged room themselves, turning salvaged ceiling beams into the bar top and wine racks. There is a 70-seat brick patio out back, a vintage wine press that gives the place its name, and a small-plate menu executed by chef Charles Giangarra, a veteran of Brooklyn’s equally rustic Convivium Osteria. There are salads (braised duck with shaved fennel and currants), risotti (shrimp with grilled radicchio and chives), and panini named for various parts of Calabria, the original birthplace of the Costabile clan. But the highlight of the menu is the tapas section, small plates of pan-seared sea scallops with spicy chickpea purée and fried polenta, or porcini-dusted tilapia with white-bean vinaigrette. “We wanted people to say, ‘Wow!’ ” says Peter’s daughter Pamela, who will be working the floor.

(Thanks to commentor Sara for the link!)

Holy crap this sounds good!