Chroniclers of Italian food in New York City know Pino Luongo as an ambitious, irascible O.G. of Tuscan cuisine, having risen from the lowly rank of Da Silvano busboy to helm such late-20th-century hot spots as Il Cantinori, Sapore di Mare, Le Madri, and Mad.61 before succumbing to ill-fated business deals, crushing rents, and eventual bankruptcy.
Nowadays, his holdings have dwindled to the discreetly tony Morso off Sutton Place. But Luongo is a self-professed restaurant junkie, and this fall, he revives the name that he’d once hoped to turn into a national brand: Coco Pazzo, which means “crazy chef.”
