The Four Horsemen is finally getting a follow-up restaurant, a whole acclaimed decade later
If The Four Horsemen is a cozy vinyl-spun whisper of a restaurant, I Cavallini is its roomier, moodier sibling with a passport full of Italian stamps and just enough swagger to pull off eel toast. (Yes, that's a thing—crispy-fried with pine nuts and golden raisins.) The name translates to 'the little horses' and the vibe lands somewhere between Florentine trattoria and downtown wine haunt with vintage glassware, reclaimed ceiling beams and an actual sculpture nicknamed Randy.
While the initial vision leaned entirely Italian, Curtola and his team wisely zagged. 'A lot of that food works because you're in Italy and you're in some beautiful city in some beautiful old restaurant and there's a nonna in back doing the cooking,' Curtola told Grub Street. 'It felt weird being in Brooklyn trying to re-create that.'
So instead of rigid authenticity, I Cavallini channels Italy's soul with a Brooklyn filter: mussel panzanella with lovage and pickled green tomatoes, nervetti salad tossed with chive-blossom vinegar and a bluefin tuna dish with chervil gremolata and rare risina beans imported from Umbria.
On the drinks side, it's a full pour: a 100-bottle all-Italian natural wine list (assembled with a wink to late partner and wine savant Justin Chearno) and original cocktails by JoJo Colonna of Attaboy. Think: a Prosecco-meets-absinthe Milo Spritz, a tomato-gin Pomozoni and the mezcal-soaked Cavallo Giallo.
Desserts are anything but an afterthought. Honey gelato and melon sorbet get served in Depression-era glassware, while the tiramisu, inspired by Florence's famed Trattoria Cammillo, gets built to order with overnight-soaked ladyfingers and espresso from cult roaster Maru.
Many Four Horsemen day-ones are crossing the street to help bring this new vision to life—chef de cuisine Ben Zook, sous-chefs Jonathan Vogt and Max Baez and wine director Flo Barth among them. And with music-geek-worthy acoustics, a menu that sidesteps clichés and just enough sentimental detail, I Cavallini already feels like more than just a sequel.
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