The ricotta-filled cannoli at Tucker’s are house-made and worth ordering. Credit: Ron Bechtol
The former East Side bar Tucker’s Kozy Korner, a beacon of Black culture since 1948, has embarked on an entirely new narrative. Empty since 2023, its framed covers of Ebony magazine long gone, the space has been rebranded Tucker’s Italian.
In the United States, at least, Italian cuts across all cultures.
And it’s a cuisine the new operators are more than modestly familiar with. Michael Sohocki’s and Jason Garcia’s Italian chops spring from Il Forno, often mentioned as the best pizzeria in town. But no, before you ask, they didn’t bring pizza with them to Tucker’s. Rather, the duo has focused on pastas such as an un-ironic Italian American spaghetti and meatballs (not always available), sandwiches featuring the likes of prosciutto with arugula and ricotta and rotating evening entrées “From the Grill.”
Experience in dough-wrangling has transcended the lack of a traditional domed oven in the production of exceptional focaccias at Tucker’s. Try the at-once puffy and springy version with house pepperoni and mozzarella. The kitchen also does wonders with ciabattas and bastone, or stubby semolina baguettes.
Since these breads, especially the ciabattas, are the foundation of the sandwich offerings, they’re a good place to start.
Though the P.A.T. — prosciutto, arugula and roasted tomato — gets more than middling marks, the first a-ha moment at Tucker’s came with the smugly named Spicy Mother Tucker, a vehicle for roasted porchetta and nduja, the spready and very spicy pork sausage from Southern Italy. The two porky siblings, one mild and easygoing, the other fiery and in-your-face, come together here to form the perfect union.
Trying hard for equal attention, the SxSE sandwich, built around deftly-fried eggplant with a bright tomato-basil sauce and peppery arugula, came in a close second. My only complaint might be that it took a long time to prepare during one lunch visit in the spare, and sparsely populated, dining room.
However, antipasto might help to fill the void if you’re keen on ordering the SxSE. I can recommend the crispy rosemary potatoes as well as the golden-fried suppli, risotto enrobing stretchy cheese.
According to Garcia, the pastas have become especially popular, and one — an aptly titled The Standard with basil and parmesan — appears to anchor the section. Other offerings may change.
After sampling the lasagna Bolognese with ricotta and mozzarella one evening, I was reluctant to return it to its owner. But I value the friendship. And to be honest, there was no new ground being tilled here—not that nuovo terreno is always required.
The same can be said for the gnocchi. But if the house-made rendition with roasted red peppers, Italian sausage rounds and a robust gravy with roasted onion is on the menu, fall upon it immediately. While gnocchi can be solemn and stodgy, these approach pillowy and, even, sprightly.
Some experimentation has been going on in the From the Grill section. Black drum with lemon orzo salad made a recent, bold appearance, for example. I suspect the rosemary-, garlic- and lemon-marinated half chicken may stick around, however. It’s dependably good and enough for two to share.
I expected more of the porchetta plate based on the success of the Spicy Mother Tucker sandwich. Turns out that the nduja may have been doing more of the heavy lifting than I first thought.
The first time I ordered the plate, a full, rolled roast had apparently just emerged from the oven, and staff proudly presented it at the table in all its hog-tied and magnificently burnished glory. We were suitably impressed. But when the slices of roast made it back to the table, the skin delivered on its crackly promise but the pork itself seemed curiously bland.
I felt obliged to try it again on a later date, but little had changed the second time around, even though dabs of lemony gremolata valiantly tried to spark interest. Maybe porchetta really wants to be made of pork shoulder, as it often is, as opposed to pork belly. Maybe it also wants more seasoning in the form of garlic, rosemary and …
Well, maybe it’s still a work in progress. In the meantime, I’ll stick to the sandwich.
I won’t hesitate to reorder the cannoli, their ricotta filling piped into disarmingly irregular house-made shells. But I will ask for more pistachio in that iteration. (Chocolate chip is another option.)
And I will never fail to depart through the adjoining deli dominated by a glassy (and also house-made) shrine to cured meats, its maturing sausages hanging like so many stalactites from the ceiling. A small selection of Italian wines, dried pastas, tinned provisions, cheeses and other cured meats is also on offer.
And on point in making sure that Mother Tucker becomes Nonna Tucker in time.
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