New York Magazine, The Italian Top 10, Adam Platt, June 2, 2003
Rustic and brick oven are two overused terms in Italian-food circles, but if you want to trace them to their absolute, etymological core, this is a good place to start. Since opening over three years ago on the fringes of Little Italy, Frank De Carlo’s spare, bunker-style restaurant has been a late-night haunt for food scholars seeking the essence of roasted eggplant, say, or perfectly oval pizza bianca, or crackly, wood-cooked sardines. The food is served at crowded oak tables, in piping hot terra-cotta pots, and the feeling you always get, late in the evening, when the ovens are roaring, is of taking part in a communal, mildly bacchanalian, gourmet event.

The New York Times, Restaurants, Willsiam Grime, July 11, 2001
The concrete floor and the brushed-aluminum chairs send off warning signals. Is Peasant, despite the name, going to be an exercise in deprivation chic? The whitewashed brick walls and bare wood tables don't offer much hope. But closer inspection suggests that all is not as it seems. At the far end of the room, a brick pizza oven radiates heat. On a counter in front of the open kitchen, apricots, tomatoes and grapes have been massed in abundant display.
Even the forbidding industrial chairs spring a surprise. They are form-fitting and inexplicably comfortable. The black-clad waiters turn out to be Jimmy Olsen's in disguise, full of gee-whiz enthusiasm and can-do optimism. Peasant may be cool, but it's not cold.

New York Magazine, Burn This, Hal Rubenstein, May 1, 2000
Dentists still get plagued by novocained clowns asking them why they're always "so down in the mouth." Female flight attendants continue to deal with bedroom-eyed seniors offering "coffee, tea, or me?" And know what food critics hear? "I found this really great place, but I don't want to tell you about it, because then you're going to tell everyone and wreck it!" Thank you. Nice to know our words have such a positive effect.

Wine Spectator, Trendsetters, Bruce Sanderson, April 16, 2001
This Nolita treasure presents its riches in a simple manner. Echoing the peasantry of former times, the focus is on the hearth. The similarities however, end there. The young, chic crowd and flavorful food elevate Peasant to a level of hip sophistication.

Newyorkmetro.com, Review By Adam Platt, 2003
Peasant is exactly right. From its stunningly backlit brick-walled kitchen that features only open-fire cooking to its incredibly appealing Tuscan menu, chef-owner Frank De Carlo has reason to bust his buttons every night, and you have almost too many reasons to undo a couple of yours. I like the little bowl of sweet ricotta cheese served gratis to the rowdy food scholars in the house, and I'm also partial to the brick-oven-baked rabbit, stewed in cannellini beans with salty strips of pancetta, and the perfectly oval pizza bianca pooled with olive oil.

Jamesbeard.org, The Great Italians, July 16, 2003
"Peasant is exactly right," New York Magazine noted when Frank DeCarlo's Nolita restaurant opened two years ago. DeCarlo's simple cooking, performed over an open fire, made fans of critics as well as top area chefs, all of whom craved the "incredibly appealing," as New York Magazine described them, pure flavors of dishes such as wood-fired pizza with black olives and anchovies or roasted guinea hen with fava beans. DeCarlo started working at restaurants at age 15 in his native New Jersey. By 19, he had a position at Il Cortile under Donato Deserio, and he worked his way up to executive sous-chef within a year. After Deserio returned to Italy, DeCarlo worked the line at Le Cirque and as executive chef of Mazzei. He also ran the kitchens of Manhattan restaurants mad.61 and Circa, where he stayed for three years before leaving to open Peasant.

Food Arts Magazine, House a Fire, Christopher Styler, Jan/ Feb 2004

La Cucina Italia, Review, Lisa Merlini October 2001

Gourmet Magazine, Nothing Like a Flame, Jonathan Gold, June 2001

The Art of Eating, Edward Behr, Summer 2004