The chef behind Lilia and Misi opens Misipasta, a delightful pasta shop and eatery

By Scott Lynch

Chef Missy Robbins and her business partner Sean Feeney preside over some of Brooklyn’s toughest tables. Have you ever tried to get a Resy at Lilia on Union Avenue in Williamsburg? Or Misi on Kent? Impossible, right? I snagged a bar seat at the latter a few years ago, and though the place was a little too sceney for my tastes, the food was fantastic.

Now, however, there’s a glorious hack to the normally impenetrable host station of a Robbins restaurant: Misipasta, a pasta shop and lovely all-day cafe, which opened on Grand Avenue this week a few blocks away from the Misi mothership.

Before we get any further, I want to say that you should go eat here right now, like literally today, or certainly before summer ends and everyone gets back in town. Dinner reservations are already totally booked a month out, but until 6:00 it’s walk-ins only at Misipasta, and there were plenty of tables in the pretty, well-shaded backyard when I went on Wednesday.

Another option is to load up on the freshly made pastas and jarred sauces at the counter up front, and bring it all home and cook it yourself. Robbins provides a handy sheet of tips if you go this route, like “Do not add oil to your water,” and “Marry your sauce and pasta, they are meant to coexist.”

Should you decide to sit out back — it is serene and pleasant out there — the Misipasta menu is tight and stacked with snacky and sandwich-y winners. Robbins does a grilled artichoke number that had me swooning, the headliner joined with hot peppers and some excellent sharp provolone, all stuffed into a toasted She Wolf sesame roll.

Grilled artichoke sandwich, $18 (Scott Lynch)

The crispy, oozy “mozzarella in carrozza” is basically the fried cheese sandwich of your dreams, especially if those dreams include a bracing hit of anchovy to go along with all that creamy mozz.

Mozzarella in carrozza, $16 (Scott Lynch)

You can also get your anchovies smoked and laid across a bed of luscious, slow-roasted tomatoes, with fennel pollen sprinkled on top for extra zing.

Smoked anchovy over roasted tomatoes, $14 (Scott Lynch)

There’s only one pasta served at Misipasta, but it’s doozy, a pile of perfect spaghetti covered in bottarga, lemon and crunchy, garlicky breadcrumbs. Other menu items include the seasonal-sounding sungold tomatoes open-faced sandwich on top of sourdough; a dish involving Jimmy Nardello peppers, currants and capers; and a cheesy chickpea farinata, or pancake.

Spaghetti with bottarga, $24 (Scott Lynch)

Alcohol consumption is an important part of your Misipasta experience (the only non-boozy beverages are water and coffee drinks). Cocktails include a $17 negroni and a $19 martini, and there are numerous bottles of wine in the $65 to $85 range. For dessert, there’s an affogato, starring one of Robbins’s famed gelatos.

If the weather isn’t cooperating, there are some (backless stool) seats inside Misipasta at various counters, but unless you just want to wolf a quick lunch, the backyard is where it’s at here.

Misipasta is located at 46 Grand Street, between Kent and Wythe Avenues, and is currently open, serving a full menu, from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.