This spring, Beaufain Street’s Leaf restaurant — that’s the downtown Vickery’s for some of you — will be transformed into an Italian restaurant. Michael and Caitlin Toscano are the couple behind the spot they’ve dubbed Le Farfalle, and today Michael, formerly of NYC’s uber-successful Perla, revealed a few more details about what to expect from the venture.

Here’s what we know:

1. Bona fide experience. 
The Toscanos are bringing their Big Apple F&B cred to the table at Le Farfalle. Caitlin’s front-of-house experience includes roles at Del Posto, Craft, Per Se, and Manzo. Meanwhile, Michael was named sous chef of Mario Batali’s Babbo when he was just 21. He was also the executive chef of Eataly’s Manzo before opening Perla, which got two stars from The New York Times and landed him on the James Beard New York Rising Star chef semi-finalist list.

2. This will be a family affair.
“My wife and I had the most amazing time working at Manzo together,” says Micheal. “We had just enough separation. She had her own thing and I was in the kitchen, but we helped each other out when we needed.”

3. You’ll be eating all hand-rolled pasta if you dine at Le Farfalle. 
“We’ll be milling our own pasta flour and none of our pasta will be extruded,” says Michael.  

4. Something for everybody.
Featuring a bar area, large dining room, and courtyard, the Toscanos plan to tailor the menu to everything from a casual lunch to a celebratory dinner. “I like to have a range in the menu. You can go in and have a quick, easy meal any day of the week at the bar — like a great bowl of pasta that will fill you up and a glass of wine and leave for $30-35. Or you can sit in the dining room and have a blow-out meal, get the crazy bottle of wine or large format dish or have a nice whiskey or scotch.” The couple plan to be open seven days a week and serve brunch.

5. The name says it all.
According to Michael, Le Farfalle directly translates as butterflies. “But it means chasing your dreams or living unrealistically,” he says. “It’s a whimsical idea. But that’s what we’re doing, we’re living out our dream of reality.”

Bonus fact: Before college the Texas native was on track to be a professional golfer, but segued into cooking after working at a golf club in high school. 


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