the underground gourmet
Supper Time
It's no surprise that Supper, the new East Village osteria, is an instant word-of-mouth hit: The man behind the restaurant (and the stove), wearing a T-shirt that reads the big meatball and dodging three-foot flames, is local hero Frank Prisinzano, chef-owner of the perpetually packed Italian-American Frank and its five-month-old spinoff, Lil' Frankie's. A victim of his own success, Prisinzano was practically forced by fundamentalist Frank fans into opening the third link in his East Village empire, which specializes in northern-style cucina. "I'm totally in love with Italian cooking -- southern Italian, northern Italian," says the polpette kingpin. "But I can't change anything on Frank's menu or it becomes a big uproar, like 'Whaddya mean you don't have that?' " So in order to indulge his appetite for Venetian calf's liver, bollito misto, and bagna cauda, Prisinzano renovated an Alphabet City office, furnishing it with a weathered tile floor, rough wooden communal tables, a bustling open kitchen, funky old-lady light fixtures, and mismatched floral-pattern plates that evoke Sunday supper at Grandma's house. "I want the place to have the feeling of home," he says. The real attraction, though, is simple, well-executed, traditional dishes like garlic-rubbed bruschetta drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt; an herby minestrone Genovese; perfectly thin veal Milanese with an irresistible golden-brown bread-crumb crust; a luscious Piedmontese disc of chocolate-hazelnut custard with fresh berries, all at familiar Frank prices. Although a pasta or two might be on the far side of al dente, no one's perfect -- not even Grandma.— ROB PATRONITE
Supper
156 East 2nd Street
212-477-7600

best of the week
Blue Crab Festival on June 8 and 9
Park Slope's Minnow is throwing its first annual Blue Crab Festival, inspired by old-fashioned crab boils: There'll be plenty of claws, backfin, and other kinds of sea creatures (including fresh blue crabs boiled in beer).
The Minnow
442 Ninth Street
718-832-5500

takeout
Move Over Good Humor
If the Good Humor truck doesn't jingle-jangle its way down your block this summer, you might try your neighborhood Godiva shop. Chocolate Eclair bars and King Cones have nothing on the chocolate giant's new $3.50 ice-cream bar, a superrich concoction of swirly caramel-laced ice cream in a pecan-sprinkled milk-chocolate shell. You won't even miss the tinny strains of "The Entertainer." (Available at most Godiva boutiques throughout Manhattan.)