L'uomo dietro la pizza

We've spent so much time talking about the pizza, that we've barely given a shout to the man behind Tonda, Bob Giraldi. Bob is the renaissance man of the New York restaurant world. A Pratt graduate, a "Mad Men" ad-exec in the 60's, a professor at SVA, a commercial and music video director (Pat Benatar's "Love is a Battefield" and Michael Jackson's "Beat It", heard of either of those?), and now, one of the most prolific restaurateurs in New York. With Jo-Jo, Jean-Georges, Vong (and its London and Hong Kong outposts), Patria, BREADTribeca and Diablo Royale on his resume, New York just wouldn't taste the same without him. His expansive creativity allows him to not only provide the best food, but the best visuals as well. Bob directed a commercial for Tonda last night himself. Look out for it on NBC LXTV (and a video of it here on the blog). There were over a hundred people there to join the celebration.

Photo by Daniel Krieger

BREADTribeca

We know the East Village has most everything you need in life, but, at times, there is incentive to trek elsewhere sometimes. Case in point, the first restaurant that Bob Giraldi collaborated on with the boys from Bread, Luigi Comandatore and Dario Milanin, BREADTribeca. Located on Church Street, right off of 6th Avenue, BREADTribeca opened in 2003 as the older brother to the original Spring St. outpost, Bread. Its the restaurant where the three guys first merged their culinary and aesthetic tastes, a mix of old world and brand new, BREADTribeca might serve as a nice appetizer for those who just can't wait for Tonda to open in March. Not to mention that Frommer's took notice of the "wood-burning oven [that] turns out excellent thin-crust pizzas and roasted meats". Wait until they see what kind of pizza oven we've got cooked up for Tonda.