WHAT'S THE FOCUS OF THE MENU?
It's inspired by the seasons and by the food our chef Jody Williams [formerly of New York's Gusto] likes to cook and, more important, eat. I have adored her food for a long time.
WHAT'S THE MOOD OF THE PLACE?
Quite rustic, like an Italian farmhouse you're ecstatic to stumble upon when you can't to find the grander place you meant to go to.
WHAT INSPIRED YOU?
Italian women. I want to meet them and I reckoned this would be a good way.
WHO'S YOUR CUSTOMER?
Someone exactly like me: tall, handsome, witty and excessively attractive.
YOU'VE CREATED AN EMPIRE OF FRENCH BISTROS. WHY GO ITALIAN?
Before I built Balthazar and Pastis, I felt an affinity for France and spent a great deal of time there. The same is now true of Italy, where I've traveled many times over the past five years. But my visits had nothing to do with restaurants: I went there for the paintings. Out of that, an interest in the food gradually emerged. Perhaps that's why I named the restaurant after Giorgio Morandi, one of my favorite Italian painters.
Morandi, 15 Charles St., New York City, 212-627-7575
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