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Little Sal's Brings Italian Dishes to Former Chat 'n Chew

By Heather Holland | February 6, 2015 2:19pm | Updated on February 9, 2015 8:53am
  Little Sal's is serving traditional Italian  fare inspired by Andrew Silverman's Italian mother-in-law.
Little Sal's
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UNION SQUARE — An Italian restaurant inspired by the owner's mother-in-law's cooking has opened in the former Chat 'n Chew space.

Little Sal's, at 10 E. 16th St., serves the traditional red sauce dishes owner and chef Andrew Silverman’s Italian mother-in-law, Linda Zemo Sorbara, made for the family at home.

“I live in the neighborhood and I have seven restaurants in the area, and there’s just nothing like this in the neighborhood,” said Silverman, who opened Little Sal's with his sons Ethan and Zaccari. “It’s casual and informal, but you can fall in love in this place.”

Sal's soft-opened about a month ago for dinner and private parties, but now it’s fully open with a lunch menu, including a classic chicken parmesan and a New Orleans-style turkey muffaletta.

The dinner menu includes a nizzarda salad — a spin on the nicoise salad — with shrimp, cured yellowfin tuna and crumbled egg. Other offerings include a New York strip steak and a frutti di mare, made with lobster, shrimp, scallops, mussels and calamari bathed in a seafood broth.

The restaurant replaces Chat 'n Chew's comfort food menu, which Silverman said no longer brought in enough money to keep up with the area's rising rents.

Little Sal’s will still have a baked mac-n-cheese for the Chat 'n Chew fans, but it’ll be a four-cheese penne version this time around, Silverman said.

Dinner entree prices range from $10 to $31, and there is also a prix fixe menu with an appetizer, an entree and a dessert for $35.

Little Sal’s — named after Ethan and Zaccari’s Italian uncle — also includes a bar, with 35 bottles of wine for $35 or less, Silverman said.

Silverman is a veteran of the city's restaurant industry — he owns City Crab and Barbounia — but he is planning to let his sons take the reins on this venture.

“I’m putting all the passengers on the boat, filling it up with fuel and then let it go,” Silverman said.