Interview with Chef Andrew Whitney of Dell'Anima
Tucked between Greenwich Village and the South Village sits Dell’ Anima, a cozy Italian restaurant treating its food with well-seasoned sincerity. What makes this Cornelia Street spot stand out? Chef Andrew Whitney calls it honest cooking—layered, deliberate, and rooted in a respect for the fundamentals that don’t need dressing up.
Dell’ Anima is known for its “Devil’s Chicken” — a finely finessed charred masterpiece — alongside a dialed-in carbonara and ever-evolving weekly specials. As part of our 2026 Flavor Trend Report launch, we headed to New York City to talk with Andrew about char, technique, trending flavors, and the path from Minnesota to New York kitchens, Wu-Tang, Chopin, the sincerity of simplicity, and a shared appreciation for all things bitter.
We traded stories about the grind—the grit and headstrong initiative it takes to survive in this industry. Read the full interview below.
What inspired you to start cooking?
"My two grandmothers’ gardens. It was a punishment to work in their gardens pulling weeds and more weeds. They realized before I did that I kind of liked doing it and learning about food and how to make things grow from the ground. They said, "stop goofing around and learn how to grow something from scratch." So, that was huge. That was a huge turning point in my life. Learning from my grandma Johnson and grandma Whitney. They were the two ladies in my life."
How did you go from gardening in Minnesota to owning an Italian restaurant in NYC?
"I worked in French and traditional American restaurants in Minnesota. Some were high-end, some were like Dell’anima… rustic Italian food. I don't mind high concept food. I mean, it's fun once in a while.
When I moved to New York, I worked for Whole Foods (a story for another time), before I started working in Italian restaurants. The flavors, the care, the process of just making a meal with just three to five ingredients, really caring about it… That's what really inspired me. Taking simple ingredients and making them into a refined and comforting dish."
Where do you find inspiration when developing dishes?
"Music. TV, YouTube videos of old school chefs, going out to eat, cookbooks. I find inspiration wherever I can."
Do you have a favorite cookbook right now?
"It's an Offal cookbook, which is pretty fun. It's called Odd Bits: How to Cook the Rest of the Animal (by Jennifer McLagan). My grandpa on my mom's side was a hunter. I didn't like shooting guns, but I wanted to learn about breaking down animals… ducks… venison… learning about nature and food, that was a big deal."
What are the dos and don'ts of harvesting venison?
"Break it down slowly, and don’t hit the piss sack."
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Do you have another food memory from your childhood?
"My grandma on my mom's side making pancakes in the morning when my cousins and I would sleep over at her house. Just that smell of the tiny thin Scandinavian pancakes that she would cook… like almost crepe-esque… but just that smell. Grandma singing songs. Being a kid watching her cook in the kitchen. And, the hot syrup because grandma would never serve you cold syrup. That's why we serve hot syrup for brunch at Dell’Anima. That's a core memory for me."
So, what is your absolute favorite dish at Dell’ Anima?
"The bone marrow and the Devil’s Chicken (aka Pollo Al Diavolo). Our Pollo Al Diavola is a half bird boned out. We dry rub it with smoked Pimenton and a few other ingredients. Let it sit for at least two days so the dry rub really gets in there and dries out that skin. Then we sauté it skin side down. It’s the chicken’s own fat that helps make the skin crispy and crunchy. Throw it in the oven at 550 for about 17 minutes. Flip it. Got that nice crunchy crispy crackly skin. Hit it with some chicken stock and a little bit of lemon juice and salt. Add broccoli rabe.
I just want to cook the good food that I was taught and I learned. It’s from the soul, cooked from the heart."
Is broccoli rabe your favorite vegetable?
"I f****** love broccoli rabe. Bitter. Bitter like me."
We have to start a digestif bitter line… Bitterman. Just different floral and fruit composition of bitters.
"f*** yeah. That's hilarious."
The Bitterman.
"I love it."
What’s the top pasta at Delana right now?
"Top pasta right now would be the carbonara, the orecchiette with wild boar, and the classic Bolognese."
What is it about lasagna that people love so much?
"It’s just comfort. I mean, there's something about pushing your fork through all those layers and feeling a little give… a little more give… and a little more give, and then being able to see if you can fit all those layers in your mouth. That's why I try to do 10 to 12 layers because. It’s easy, simple food…if it's done right."
What’s your process for making the perfect brown butter sauce or even the perfect brown butter?
"I keep it low to medium low heat and just keep an eye on it. You got to move it. Don't let it sit there and burn. You just slowly rotate your sauté pan slowly, slowly, slowly. And once it starts to get that caramel color and that caramel smell, that's when you hit it with your stock or hit it with your salted water or lemon juice, whatever you're going to need to do it. We always use unsalted butter so you have to add some salt to it. But just keep an eye on it. You can't leave it. It takes away from other things, but a perfect brown butter sauce… Keep your eye on it. God damn it."
That's going to be the quote at the top. Keep your eye on it. Goddamn it. Why unsalted butter?
"Because we add salt to everything. We don't need salt already in it."
Perfect. What spice do you think is undervalued?
"I really like using cardamom. You can use it in cocktails. You can use it in all all kinds of stuff. We use it, star anise, and cinnamon in red wine to braise our octopus in red wine. It's not very Italian, but you know, I mean, we're just cooking from the soul."
What is an Italian joint that you would make a pilgrimage to or go out of your way to eat at?
"All of Arthur Avenue. [The Real Little Italy located in the Bronx] Old school Italians shops and what it used to be. Making cheese, making prosciutto, any of that. Like Arthur Avenue is always fun. We go at least once a year."
Red or white?
"Budweiser. And, I'm a sucker for a good Negroni. When we go out to dinner, that's my drink. I like a dry Campari. I'm a bitter kind of guy."
Campari over Aperol?
"Yeah."
"You're bitter as f***. They're not gonna let me put that one in… so the beer that you'd want to be buried with is Budweiser?"
"Yeah, I'll take a Budweiser 40oz."
Forties???
"Yeah, get some Edward-40-hands going. Duct tape. No, when I die, just throw me in the trash, baby."