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Chef Husband of Actress Debi Mazar Opens Windsor Terrace Cafe

By Leslie Albrecht | May 12, 2015 2:32pm | Updated on May 12, 2015 8:36pm
 Gabriele Corcos, host of the cooking show "Extra Virgin," has opened The Tuscan Gun at 199 Windsor Pl.
The Tuscan Gun
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WINDSOR TERRACE — It's a taste of Tuscany with a side of Hollywood.

Chef Gabriele Corcos, husband of actress Debi Mazar, opened an Italian cafe called The Tuscan Gun at 199 Windsor Pl. off 10th Avenue Saturday.

Corcos, who co-hosts the Cooking Channel show "Extra Virgin" with Mazar, will be serving a selection of breakfast, lunch and dinner items designed to give diners a taste of Corcos' home town of Florence, Italy.

“We want people to be able to experience authentic Tuscan food in its simplicity in our funky little shop,” said CEO and partner Anthony Contrino. "Tuscan cooking is about using the best ingredients you can get your hands on, preparing them with care, and seasoning them well."

The cozy space, which has just a few tables, will open at 6:30 a.m. on weekdays and serve espresso drinks and breakfast items such as yogurt parfaits that commuters can easily take to work.

The coffee drinks are the same that would be found in any authentic coffee bar in Italy, and the cafe won't be serving flavored beverages like the pumpkin spice concoctions offered at many American coffee shops, Contrino said.

Housemade pastries will be available, as well as croissants from Balthazar.

The lunch menu includes a porchetta sandwich on ciabatta with arugula. The pork is slow-roasted for eight hours, rubbed with rosemary, sage, garlic and fennel, and basted with IPA beer. "It basically falls apart," Contrino said.

Drippings from the porchetta are used to make a sauce that tops one of the cafe's pasta dishes. There are also soups and salads.

The Tuscan Gun will close at 6 p.m. nightly so it can be used for cooking classes, private parties and pop-up dinners. Corcos hosted a soldout series of pop-up dinners last fall where diners paid $95 each for a seven-course meal.

Corcos and Mazar considered opening a restaurant in Park Slope in 2013 but dropped the idea because the landlord was asking for too much rent, Mazar said on Twitter. The actress, who is known for roles in the Martin Scorsese classic "Goodfellas" and HBO's "Entourage," is now starring in a new TV Land series, "Younger."

The couple, who have two children, moved to Windsor Terrace from Los Angeles in 2012.

“We really see ourselves as a place for the community,” Contrino said. “We want it to be affordable and provide something that’s missing in the neighborhood.”