Last Thursday, Adam Kopels walked into Torrisi Italian Specialties in NoLIta, opened his messenger bag and pulled out Ziploc bags filled with wild greens he had gathered on the North Fork of Long Island, near where he lives. Mario Carbone, one of the restaurant’s chefs and owners, sat with Mr. Kopels and sorted through clumps of baby peppercress and sheep sorrel, red bay and shepherd’s purse. The two picked up some sea rocket, a plant that grows only on exposed dunes, and crunched through the peppery leaves.
“I served this, what, four months ago?” Mr. Carbone said.
“We did an insalata di mare, only without seafood, just plants from the shore,” he added, describing a riff on the Little Italy standard. This late in the year sea rocket is too sharp for the insalata. Later, Mr. Carbone would brainstorm with his staff about what to do with it. A Peconic Bay scallop garnish? A take on oysters Rockefeller with no oysters?
“I want to get it on my menu,” he said. The delivery of wild plants plays an important role in setting the restaurant apart. “It’s invaluable,” he said. “I can get it, and no one else can.”
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