The Italian Boy After Dark features a prix-fixe tasting menu including rotating antipasti and Marini’s famous panini imbottiti
Heaping, drool-worthy panini aren’t the only delectables being prepared at the petite Pass sandwich shop in Cannonborough-Elliotborough.
Last fall, when Philly native Anthony Marini reopened the dining room of his “tiny but mighty” sandwich shop, The Pass, after it was hit by a Maserati months before, he knew he wanted to offer his patrons something more. Since 2021, the Culinary Institute of America grad and F&B veteran has been satisfying cravings for Italian-American panini, like his signature Such a Nice Italian Boy, piled high with mortadella, hot and sweet soppressata, burrata, provolone, and pickled Calabrian chili. In December, he introduced a restaurant-within-a-restaurant concept dubbed The Italian Boy After Dark, serving a prix-fixe, multi-course meal for one seating each night, Wednesday through Saturday.
Aiming for it to be less of a chef’s tasting menu and more like a dinner party at an Italian friend’s Philadelphia row house, Marini achieves just that. With only 12 seats in the tidy, welcoming space—a table for six and a lineup of six stools at the bar—it’s a delightfully intimate and unpretentious experience. The shop lights are dimmed, guests are greeted and seated, and wines by the glass and bottle are offered for sale and poured into tumblers.
(Left to right) The antipasti spread and scarpetta; chef-owner Anthony Marini hosts a family-style tasting menu in his Cannonborough-Elliotborough sandwich shop Wednesday through Saturday nights; pork sugo over cavatelli.
A perch at the bar allows for witnessing the preparation of the well-paced parade of plates to come. First up: the antipasti. On this evening, it’s toothsome marinated Corona beans with roasted fennel; a delicate, nutty Taleggio cheese with roasted orange and pistachio; wild boar salami; and pert anchovies in garlic and olive oil. As diners tuck in, the gregarious chef/host mills about, pouring wine, answering questions about the food, and telling stories. By course two—crudo as well as scarpetta with warm bread, for sopping up every last unctuous droplet of sauce—patrons are chatting up their neighbors.
Of course, Marini’s famous panini imbottiti (stuffed sandwiches) come into play. Generous slices of two are served—one a modern riff with layers of zucchini, potato, Stracciatella, and sun-dried tomato on focaccia, the other a seeded roll filled with Italian deli meats, such as Tuscan salami, capicola, pepperoni, and soppressata. By the pasta course, pork sugo over cavatelli, you may find yourself too full to partake, but like a good host, Marini will happily box it up.
Still, it’s hard to resist the “something sweet, something salty” offerings: petite canneloni encasing a light, lemon ricotta with a hint of rosemary, plus a cube of aged Parmigiano with a drop of balsamic. A digestivo of choice is the final touch, with the Italian Boy sending patrons out into the night, sated, smiling, and perhaps with a few new friends.
207-A St. Philip St.,
Wednesday-Saturday, 7 p.m.
$110 per person; by reservation only
theitalianboychs.com
