Pepe Verde To Go

I'm something of a pesto purist. So I'm always disappointed when I order a pasta al pesto and it arrives in a barely green, cream-laden sauce. Last week I had lunch at a restaurant (which shall remain nameless) where the "pesto" was a creamy tomato sauce with a few pathetic sprigs of dried basil. So, on my visit to Pepe Verde a few days later, I went up to the counter to inquire about the spaghetti with pesto sauce. "Do you serve real pesto?" I wanted to know.

A man who looked like an Italian Eugene Levy gave me a long look.

"Don't insult me," he said.

I guess it was the wrong question.

"Um, I was just making sure, because last week, I..."

"I've been here 11 years! Do you see all the signs on the wall?" The man pointed to the entrance.

There were indeed many framed newspaper articles at the front of the tiny, rustic room. "OK," I said, "I'll order the spaghetti with pesto sauce." (It was less than $10, like almost all of the pasta dishes - penne alla vodka with pancetta, fusilli puttanesca, rigatoni bolognese, penne arrabbiata.) When the substantial bowl of spaghetti arrived, the noodles were coated with a sauce which was deep green with basil and fragrant olive oil. No heavy cream or tomato paste!

Pepe Verde To Go: 559 Hudson St., (212) 255-2221.