Move over, Carbone this new NYC Italian hotspot has the best meatballs

Tucci is the city’s hottest new Italian restaurant in many a moon.Beautifully built atop fine 19th-century bones, it’s the first place that might give reigning boldface-magnet Carbone a run for its money — and for less money than that notoriously hot spot.

Tucci — or TUCCI as they prefer to stylize the name — doesn’t have a rockstar chef like Mario Carbone in the kitchen, but it has a very good one in Ed Hong.  But what really sets Tucci apart is co-owner Max Tucci’s design flair and hospitality wizardry.He’s filled the joint with witty Tuscan touches, including Gucci “Tiger Leaf” wallpaper in the bathrooms.“[They’re] a favorite spot for selfies, like the ones at the Polo Bar,” Tucci said of his washrooms.The Tucci-Gucci connection is no joke.

The fashion house is headquartered in Florence, Italy, which also happens to be Tucci’s ancestral home.On the Noho corner of Broadway and Bleecker, he’s channeled the spirit of a central Italian villa with help from the building’s original underground brick-and-stone walls and archways.

They once belonged to Pfaffs, a rathskeller-like subterranean restaurant in an adjacent hotel that was known as a rare, mid-1800s gay-friendly establishment and was a favorite watering hole of the great  American poet Walt Whitman.“Part of the downstairs dining area is actually under the sidewalk,” Tucci said.Many first-time customers don’t know it’s there “until we ask them if they want to hang at the downstairs bar until their tables are ready.

Once they see it — especially younger ones — they ask for it next time they come.”The more grownup-friendly ground level boasts hand-crafted banquettes and velvet draperies over floor-to-ceiling windows.White tablecloths on both levels help muffle the din from happy locals and boldfaces such as Whoopi Goldberg, Ethan Hawke, Sandra Lee, pop culture chronicler Nikki Haskell, Yankees reliever Dennis Santana and fashion designer Zang Toi.

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