There's no arguing that Vincenzo Betulia is one of our area’s best chefs. The farm-fresh ingredients he puts on the chopping block at Osteria Tulia come out so good you almost have to refrain from licking your plate. He’s also, thankfully, not risk-adverse, daring to stray from his up-market Italian staples at times (witness the fun Asian-themed ramen series at Bar Tulia last summer). So it may come as a big surprise that until now, neither of his restaurants have ever served brunch—you know, full-on eggs beni and “smoked salmon carpaccio” (aka lox). If you treat brunch as a verb and look forward to it all week, snag a table at Tulia on Easter Sunday between 10:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. (the restaurant is opening an hour early and ending midday service an hour later) to try his sophisticated spins, from crab cake benedict with a red pepper coulis to a lobster omelet with crème fraiche, caviar and chives. For those in your group who may not be on the brunch bandwagon, the a la carte menu will be heavy on favorites like the Mary Had a Little Lamb sausage and ricotta pizza and the short rib-foie gras tortelloni. But we strongly recommend trying the brunch—as everything Betulia puts his hands on tends to turn out sunny-side way up.
To plan a visit:
Osteria Tulia
466 Fifth Ave. S., Naples
(239) 213-2073
