Alice Huang 2/17/21 Alice Huang 2/17/21

Il Bambino — Creativity, Consistency, and Comfort in a Panini

Last July, I published a review of Il Bambino’s brunch panini menu. A few months later, I reached out to Melanie Lawless through Facebook, and she graciously connected me to Darren Lawless (chef / owner of Il Bambino and Melanie’s husband), who granted me an interview and allowed me to tell you guys their story! This is probably one of my favorite pieces to date, as I loved learning more about a restaurant that has been such a big part of my life for the past year and a half. In fact, Patrick and I sometimes joke about how we have a life “before Il Bambino” and a life “after Il Bambino.” I hope you enjoy reading this post as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Note: This interview was conducted in October 2020, so some of the references to current events may be a bit stale.

Tell me about your business and who you are! How long have you been open? What kind of food do you serve?

Hi, I’m Darren Lawless, the chef / owner of Il Bambino, a specialty panini shop in Astoria, New York. I’m originally from Dublin, Ireland. I opened Il Bambino with my wife, Melanie, in 2006 — just a few years before the Great Recession hit. We’ve been in our Astoria location for almost 15 years now. Ironically, the recession actually helped our business because it caused a lot of people to leave Manhattan to go to Astoria, where you could get an apartment that was half the price and twice the space.

Over the years, we’ve done a few things that have helped us grow. We didn’t have the outdoor garden in the beginning. When we finally opened it 2 or 3 years later, a bunch of new faces started showing up for al fresco dining. If you haven’t been to the outdoor garden, you must! We decorated it with lights and hanging flowers and put in benches and cobblestones. It’s tucked away behind the building in an enclosed area, so you’ll need to walk through the restaurant to see it. If you sit back there at night, you would never even think you were still in New York.

The outdoor garden

We started our brunch panini menu around 2009 / 2010, and it’s been so popular that we’ve been doing it ever since. (Alice note: I wrote a full review on Il Bambino’s brunch paninis, which you can read here.)

We make everything inside the restaurant ourselves. All of the aiolis are our original recipes. We have a basic recipe that we start with, and then we deviate and add things to the base. Over the years, we’ve created about 15 to 20 aiolis and sauces. Fun fact: The position of “saucier” in the kitchen was always my favorite position. A lot of chefs like working with stocks; I like working with sauces. Some of the sauces that we make for our paninis include our béarnaise aioli, which is a riff on a traditional béarnaise sauce. It’s the aioli that we use on our popular Weekend at Béarnaise panini. We use tarragon as our star ingredient, which has a haunting flavor that lingers when you exhale. And of course, our Lawless Spicy Mayo is a customer favorite.

What inspired you to start your restaurant?

I’ve been a chef my whole life, and I didn’t want to continue doing what I was doing at the time. Being a chef in NYC means living a hectic life. My wife was pregnant with our first baby, so I wanted to dial it back and open a small coffee shop that also served paninis. I wanted to open my business in Astoria, which is where we were living at the time.

Why Paninis?

While I was working in NYC, one of my favorite places that I would visit after work was a panini shop in the West Village called Ino, which has since closed. Lots of chefs would go there late at night after a long day in the kitchen. There is just something comforting about two pieces of hot bread with melty cheese. I have many fond memories of that place, and it inspired me to open my own panini shop. I also wanted to do paninis because it meant that I didn’t have to install a complicated kitchen.

How did you come up with the cute yellow pig as your mascot?

Back in the day, we were very pork centric. Today, 40% of our menu is vegetarian. We’ve actually thought about taking it down since the times have changed and our menu has evolved over time, but we’ve kept it around since it’s been our mascot for a while.

Could you tell me a little bit about your recipe wall in the restaurant? I’ve always found it fascinating and inspiring! Who wrote the recipes?

Those are my recipes that I’ve collected and developed over the years. I have a habit of scribbling down ideas. Sometimes, I would scribble down some thoughts while coming home on the subway. All of my notes were just sitting in a folder in our basement, so I thought it could be cool to use them as decoration.

What are some of your favorite dishes to make from your menu? What were your inspirations behind these dishes?

(Alice Note: My personal favorites are the Wake n’ Bake and the Pig in Japan brunch paninis!)

Besides our sauces, which I talked about earlier, one of my favorite items on our menu is our Panzanella Salad. The star ingredient for this salad is preserved lemons; it’s one of those things where when customers have it for the first time, they’re like, “What is this?!” Preserved lemon takes on a very different flavor profile. The curing process of lemon is like alchemy. It’s incredible. Same thing with carrot: when you eat a raw carrot it tastes like nothing but, when you roast it, it tastes totally transformed.

Another one of my favorites dishes is our string beans with truffle vinaigrette and shaved parmesan. It’s a very simple dish, but it has a very unique flavor. We also used to do a dish that involved sardines with smoked tomato butter — that was a hit as well.

Oh, I can’t forget to mention our Maple Bacon — it’s one of my favorites to make. When we’re making it, the smell of the restaurant is incredible.

*The Love Handles - Scrambled eggs, chorizo, dirty chips, Tuscan cheese spread, spicy mayo*

How has your restaurant changed over time?

When we first opened, we stuck to the flavor profiles of the Mediterranean region and Spain. We have since expanded our flavor profiles and have introduced dishes such as lemongrass braised short-ribs, ginger pork, and a curried cauliflower panini (the inspiration for this was from a samosa that had potatoes in it), which was one of my favorites.

How did you learn how to work with so many different flavors?

The ability to expand flavor profiles is something you just gain from experience. It’s something that will help you go a long way as a chef. If you understand flavor, you’ll know which flavors pair well together and which flavors don’t; some flavors pull, some flavors push, and some flavors clash.

Inspiration is everywhere: everything that you put into your mouth — from the Thai restaurant down the street to the Chinese restaurant next door — can become inspiration for something great.

*Butternut squash soup with garlic bread*

Do you have many regulars who come (besides Patrick and I!)? Any interesting stories?

We have a ton of regulars who’ve been coming for years. I’ve seen kids go from being toddlers to teenagers. Kids who were eight / nine when I first saw them and are in college now. Over the years, there’s been lots of progression in the neighborhood too. Back in 2006, there was barely anything on our block. It was just us and the Chinese restaurant next door. Since then, the restaurant scene has exploded out here. In my opinion, Astoria has the greatest diversity of food of any neighborhood in the city. Right next door to us, you’ve got Bosnian, Chinese, Italian, and a pizza joint — all within one block.

The neighborhood flips every three to five years. It flipped when the recession hit and people moved in from the city. Almost overnight, the restaurant scene exploded. Today, if you walk down 30th Avenue at night, it’s crazy with a ton of bars and outdoor cafes. Fortunately, Astoria still has a neighborhood-y feel because they’ve kept the zoning pretty tight and haven’t knocked down houses to build skyscrapers and tall apartments.

*The storefront — you can see the Chinese restaurant that Darren mentioned to the right!*

How have you been faring with the impact of COVID?

We closed for about 2 weeks and had to let go of 75% of our staff. I would go in every day to check on the store, and it was gut wrenching that what was full of life just three days ago was now dying. For the first few weeks after we reopened, we were only open on Saturday and Sunday, and it was just my wife and I running the store. We downsized our menu and put up the menu of the day every day on Instagram. We went from 25 crostinis to only 6 and from 20 paninis down to 8. We rotate our menu every few days. Over time, we began opening seven days a week again and brought back a few more people. Right now, we’re at 60 - 65% of normal capacity.

(Alice note: since this interview was conducted before indoor dining was shut down again, the following paragraph is slightly outdated.)

Even though NYC is permitting indoor dining now, we’ve only had one person sit in the restaurant since that started. No one has been coming in even though indoor dining has opened.

As restaurant owners, we are just sitting tight and reluctant to do anything new, since the regulations change day by day and we could get shut down again any day now. People are reluctant to spend money revamping their indoor spaces just to be told to shut down again. Restaurant owners have already spent a lot of money on heat lamps and things for outdoor dining, so they need to be thoughtful about what to spend the leftover cash on.

Al fresco dining

How has the move away from in person dining towards takeout / delivery impacted your business?

We’ve pretty much been getting the same amount of takeout business as before. There hasn’t been a significant uptick. We did get rid of some of the online platforms like Seamless and Grubhub because their commissions are way too high. Today, we only use one app: Caviar.

What most consumers don’t know is that any discounts that you see on delivery platforms are coming directly out of the restaurants’ pockets. Restaurant owners already make next to nothing on delivery orders to begin with. The typical commissions start at 18%, plus 4% for credit cards. This is what they are charging for just for sending a fax, in essence. It’s very unfair to be charging ~25% fees for just taking an order for a restaurant.

Any advice you would like to give to other restaurants / small business owners trying to survive during COVID?

As a small mom and pop, we have the ability to cut costs as much as we can and just do everything ourselves in order to scrape by. Everyone is just doing whatever they can to make a dollar. For a lot of people, this means re-inventing their business, whether it be in the form of gift cards, merchandise, etc. The biggest piece of advice I can give is to just re-evaluate your business, look at where you can cut costs, and think about how you can adapt your business to the changing times.

Il Bambino doesn’t just have paninis!

I used to live in Astoria and I know that it has a very nice, neighborhood-y vibe. From your perspective, how has COVID changed Astoria?

It’s not just Astoria; COVID has affected everyone. Some people come into the store and are very skittish about standing next to other people. For restaurant workers, it’s difficult to stand behind a counter wearing a mask for 8 hours a day (people underestimate the difficulty of this). In the beginning, people were asking all kinds of questions and by the end of the day, you would be so frazzled and burnt out.

But at the end of the day, people are amazing. We’ve received a tremendous amount of support from all kinds of people. There have been people who have been leaving generous tips just trying to support us; this absolutely blows us away.

What has been your greatest accomplishment or proudest moment as a restaurant owner?

My proudest moments are when I get up every day to go to work. We just love going to work and offering the BEST food that we can possibly make. It was never Il Bambino's goal to dominate the panini world — we just wanted to do the best that we can and put a different spin on something classic. The fact that we’ve been in business for 14 years now means that we have beaten a lot of odds, and it’s something that we are very proud of. For reference, 10 years is usually a good run in this industry.

What has been your biggest challenge?

Our biggest challenge aside from COVID is the rising cost of labor. The minimum wage has been going up every year for the last 3 years (going from $11 / hour to $15 / hour), but we weren’t able to increase prices for our menu items by 30%. Of course, we want our employees to make a good living and to pay them as much as possible, but it’s difficult to even keep the doors open when your costs are rising faster than your revenue. Even though we may have seemed busy before the pandemic, we weren’t really making any money. If you ask any restaurant owner what their biggest non-COVID challenge has been, they would probably cite rising labor costs as well.

What is one fun fact or something interesting that most people don’t know about Il Bambino?

I love cooking. Believe it or not, I actually love cooking at home because I’m not under the pressure of being in a restaurant. I enjoy coming home and putting a pot on the stove. I could spend a whole day in the kitchen. In a restaurant, what you cook has to sell — that’s the added pressure. If you take away that pressure, that’s when chefs can really blossom.

Like a lot of chefs, I would just love to cook food and give it away for free. Unfortunately, you have to make a living and charge something for the food. In an ideal world, you would be able to just give it away.

Any plans for the future (e.g. expansion, new restaurant concepts, new menu, etc.)? Both amidst and beyond the pandemic?

We actually did have another restaurant in Greenwich Village on 8th Street that was open for a year, but we closed that spot down 2 years ago.

In the future, we want to do something more casual (i.e. not sit-down, more to-go stuff). This would help us keep costs down since you don’t need to have things like wine lists and wait staff, and you don’t have to focus on decorating. It would be kind of like a ghost kitchen, except open to the public with a limited amount of seating (you wouldn’t even know that a ghost kitchen exists as a general member of the public).

What do you hope your legacy will be? I.e., 50 years from now when people think back and remember Il Bambino, what do you want them to remember?

I’d want us to be remembered for our creativity and our consistency. It’s every chef’s goal to have that “wow” factor. We have very simple recipes, but we make them interesting by adding unexpected twists.

We’ve never faltered — if you came in 14 years ago and you got the chicken mozzarella, it was exactly the same as it is today. It’s that consistency that keeps people coming back. We never compromise on quality, and our product is always our priority.

*****

Select photos courtesy of Darren and Melanie Lawless

Alice Huang 7/14/20 Alice Huang 7/14/20

Il Bambino — Creative Paninis that Pack a Punch

First visit: September 2019
Price: Affordable
Cuisine: Western, Italian, paninis
Vibe: Neighborhoody, homey, relaxing
Address: 34-08 31st Ave, Astoria, NY
Veg options: Many vegetarian options; limited vegan options
COVID-19 delivery: Yes!

Il Bambino is the sort of place that I never would have wanted to try had I not stumbled upon it by accident. I'd always thought of paninis in the US as very mediocre, wannabe Italian food— the type of thing that you would get catered for an office luncheon if you wanted to present something a tad fancier than a Subway sandwich but were too cheap to order from the gourmet family-owned deli down the street. However, the day I discovered Il Bambino low-key turned out to be one of the best food days of my life.

Patrick and I were on our way to try out Mom's Kitchen and Bar after a fun but exhausting kickboxing class in Astoria when, as if on purpose, my shoelace came untied. As I was fixing my shoe situation, I noticed that there was a cute looking cafe right next to us with an image of a pig painted on a window that sat below a cheery striped awning. We weren't super committed to Mom's, so we decided to check out this new place after scrolling through some glowing Yelp reviews. The second we walked in, we were greeted warmly by the staff and were seated immediately. It was relatively early, about 11:00am, so there was a fair amount of seating still available (by the time we finished eating though, the restaurant was packed). We ended up sitting at a table against a wall decorated with tattered handwritten recipes on college-ruled paper.

It was a Saturday, so we were handed the special brunch menu, which is only available on weekends (including Fridays) and Holidays. The menu was relatively simple, yet had a lot of variety. I immediately noticed the quirky menu item names, many of which gave a nod to the humble pig in some way or another (very appropriate for a place with a pig on its window and paintings of pigs displayed throughout the dining space): The Shrine to Swine, Weekend at Béarnaise, My Boyfriend is a Pig, etc.

We ended up ordering three paninis and one crostini (wayyy too much food) and were absolutely blown away at the flavors. These paninis were unlike anything I had ever tasted before: the homemade aiolis and sauces were so fragrant and flavorful that it felt like I was eating at a fancy Michelin-starred restaurant rather than a neighborhood sandwich spot. We decided right then and there that this was going to be our new weekend morning post-workout spot. Since that first Sunday in September, we've been back almost every weekend— even trudging through hail and snow some weekends to get there. We usually take a megaformer pilates class at a studio called Form50 (10/10 would recommend) in Astoria on Sunday mornings, and we almost always make a stop at Il Bambino before training back to Manhattan. After a few months of trying nearly everything on the menu, I came up with a list of my absolute favorites:

1. Wake and Bake ($13)

Left: Wake and Bake Right: Filthy Sombrero — Left: Wake and Bake
Right: Filthy Sombrero

Berkshire smoked ham, scrambled eggs, Tuscan cheese spread, cracked pepper aioli

Two words: cracked pepper. Il Bambino's cracked pepper aioli is out of this world. It's spicy without being overwhelming, and it is unbelievably fragrant. We've tried a few different paninis with the cracked pepper aioli, and they've all tasted spectacular. Our favorite is the Wake and Bake, which we’ve had two ways: with mozzarella (our preferred cheese) and with Tuscan cheese spread (the original cheese). Although I typically prefer mozzarella, I have to say that the Tuscan cheese spread is the way to go with this one. The creaminess and milkiness of the spread really complements the spiciness of the cracked pepper. The eggs are lightly scrambled to a perfect gooeyness that helps hold the bread together. I used to hate scrambled eggs because of how dry they typically are, but Il Bambino's eggs are so creamy and delicate that they melt in your mouth alongside their cheeses. The Berkshire ham is smoky but light, not overwhelmingly salty like some hams can be. I'd never thought that I'd ever crave a panini, but the Wake and Bake is one that I find myself regularly thinking about.

2. Pig in Japan ($13)

Prosciutto, scrambled eggs, rosemary aioli, scallions, mozzarella

I love Japan, I love rosemary, and I love prosciutto. This panini is basically all of my favorite things sandwiched between two deliciously crispy pieces of bread. In most dishes, rosemary is just a supporting actor / actress but, in the Pig in Japan, the rosemary is the star of the show. As with their other aiolis, the rosemary aioli hits you in the face like a truck, but in a way that makes you say "oh yes, hit me again". The eggs in this panini are as soft and gooey as always, and the prosciutto is the gentle, meaty blanket that wraps everything together. The scallions sprinkled throughout add some additional textural interest and a freshness that helps break up the heartiness of the dish.

3. The Speck ($12)

Speck, apricot butter, crisp apple, goat cheese (sub mozzarella), rosemary oil

In addition to savory paninis, Il Bambino also has a large selection of sweet paninis. The first one we ever tried was the We Got Nuttin, which is your basic nutella panini with strawberries and banana. It was very good, but nothing special. However, the Speck is one that is definitely noteworthy. Think of the Speck as a charcuterie board in panini form. Speck is a cut of meat that has a slightly smokier and sweeter flavor profile than prosciutto and pairs so well with the sweet and sour notes of the apricot butter. Patrick and I don't really like goat cheese, so we elected to swap it out with mozzarella. The apples add an additional layer of sweetness and a refreshing, crisp texture, and the rosemary oil is a dialed down version of the rosemary aioli and ties everything together. I'd recommend ordering a sweet panini in addition to a savory panini to get the full Il Bambino experience. Some other sweet panini's that we've tried and would recommend are the Filthy Sombrero with dulche de leche, granny smith apples, goat cheese (sub mozzarella), rosemary oil) and the Prosciutto with gorgonzola dolce (sub mozzarella) and fig spread.

Other honorable mentions:

The Love Handles - Scrambled eggs, chorizo, dirty chips, Tuscan cheese spread, spicy mayo. The dirty chips are soooo good. This is definitely a heavier panini, so I would recommend this if you are very hungry and in the mood for something very hearty.
Notorious P.I.G. - Smoked bacon, scrambled eggs, aged cheddar, truffle spread. One of the first paninis we tried here. Really good truffle flavor.
Butternut squash soup - This is one of the specials, so they don't have this on their menu every day. Served with homemade garlic bread, the soup is super creamy and naturally sweet. Honestly one of the best butternut squash soups I've had.
Cookie buttah latte - I was hesitant to try this one, since flavored lattes are typically super sweet and artificial tasting. However, they actually make their own cookie butter here, so I decided to give it a chance. And oh, am I glad I did. This latte is heavenly: sweet yet delicate, creamy yet light. Would definitely recommend this as a mid-morning pick-me-up.

Il Bambino is my of my favorite places in New York- not just because the food is spectacular and affordable, but because the staff and owners are so warm and welcoming. Every time I go, I feel like I'm going to a friends' grandma's home. The fact that we're willing to go out of our way to Astoria for this place says a lot about how awesome it is. I still want to try their baked goods— they have a cornflake cookie that looks divine, as well as a large assortment of other sweets.

Tips:

Come on a weekend so you can try their special brunch paninis
Get a soup or latte to go with your meal
They have a ton of vegetarian options (e.g. a delicious looking mushroom panini), and you can make any of their paninis vegetarian upon request!
The food sometimes takes a while to come out, but be patient! Each panini is made to order, and the wait is definitely worth it
I've tried their salads and crostinis, which are alright, but definitely don't expect them to be as good as the paninis

In summary:

Hangry Alice rating: 5/5
Must-get dishes: Wake and Bake, Pig in Japan, The Speck with Mozzarella, The Love Handles, The Notorious P.I.G.
Skip: Salads, crostinis