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It's 9 p.m. at Andrew Carmellini's Bar Primi, and half the guests wouldn't be out of place in the society pages of Vanity Fair. It would make sense if this were an East Hampton pool party, and not a Bowery joint trafficking in cheap pasta, paper napkins, and sloppy roast beef sandwiches.
Leave it to Carmellini, Josh Pickard and Luke Ostrom, the team behind Locanda Verde, Lafayette and The Dutch, to give New York what it wants, which in this case is a late night pasta parlor where you and a buddy can eat and drink well for $120. Bar Primi is essentially doing for Carmellini & Co. what Parm is doing for the Torrisi boys: it provides an entry-level Italian experience that can still excite fans of the group's more expensive brands.
