Checking In With Peter Serpico

Over the past three years, one of the most dependably awesome things about Serpico on South Street has been the presence of the Cope’s corn ravioli. But now, for what I think is the first time, that dish is gone from Serpico’s new menu.

Of course ‘new menu’ is kind of a relative term. The menu at Peter Serpico‘s eponymous restaurant is forever changing. “It’s constant,” he says. “We’re always changing things.”

Not seasonally, not monthly. There’s no kind of schedule, he says. No plan. But still, with spring here, the board just got a fairly substantial overhaul. Here’s what it looks like right now.

While I had him on the phone, I also asked him about the new project he and Stephen Starr (his partner at Serpico) have in the works. He told me that right now Starr is focused on opening his new NYC restaurant with Daniel Rose, chef of Spring in Paris (which, actually, looks like it might be two NYC restaurants, one of them being a New York version of the famous Chez La Vieille Adrienne from Paris–the original of which he and Rose are taking over–and the other an unnamed French restaurant), but that Starr’s calendar has their project coming next. “Six or eight months, I think,” Serpico said. And it will be opening in the former Sansom Street home of Il Pittore.

Serpico’s second restaurant doesn’t have a name yet, but there is at least the framework of a concept. It’s going to be Korean–not 100% authentic but “probably 70% authentic,” according to the chef. And when it does finally get open, Serpico will be splitting his time between the two addresses–not abandoning South Street, but not just giving away the kitchen in Rittenhouse either.

One thing he does seem sure of? His crew. It took no prompting for him to single out Nate Horwitz–a guy he brought on as a line cook when he opened Serpico, and who now stands as his chef de cuisine. Horwitz will be the guy looking out for Serpico while Peter is away tending to the new restaurant.

Serpico [f8b8z]