Make it to go for Martha

NEW YORK —  No one will ever mistake Martha Stewart for the brown-bagging-it type. Though her do-it-yourself instructions on how to decorate, garden and cook are more democratic than some and despite her Kmart affiliation, there remains more than a whiff of New England elegance about her.

For example, in the January issue of her magazine Martha Stewart Living one will find recipes for a sumptuous easy-to-make dinner of frisee and radicchio salad, roasted carrots and parsnips, chicken with onions and garlic, and almond macaroons. Not exactly Wolfgang Puck, but not Tony Roma’s either.

While those offerings are what Stewart may chow down on after sunset, for lunch while on trial facing fraud and obstruction of justice charges she has been making do with selections from the only Italian restaurant south of Canal Street in Chinatown.

“We’re the last of the Mohicans over here,” says “Big” Joe Forlini, co-owner of Forlini’s Ristorante with “Little” Joe and a guy named Derek (they’re all related).

Not featured in this year’s Zagat Survey, but listed on the-Sopranos.com fan website, the restaurant, which has been in business since 1943, is much more hearty Italian than low-carb, high fiber New Age fare. But Stewart, who watches what she eats, has found a happy medium.

Each day the chefs prepare a meals-to-go package of a grilled veggie plate (large goes for $65; small, $35) and Forlini salad ($10 a pop), a house special of lettuce, onions, peppers, croutons, celery, chicken and a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese, all topped off with an oil-and-vinegar dressing. Diet Cokes get packed in, and if anyone wants dessert, sugar-free Jell-O is included ($3.50 a bowl). They make enough to feed 12 to 15. “They’re all health nuts,” says Big Joe, 50, of Martha and her entourage.

While Martha, her lawyers, family and friends are being health-conscious, co-defendant Peter Bacanovic and his support staff, who also get their daily bread from Forlini’s, are known to indulge in baked shrimp and chicken parmesan.

“There are always sandwiches and salads on the table,” says an insider, who regularly eats with both defendants. “Though Martha has been eating a lot of fruit -- apples and oranges.”

The food, carried in brown shopping bags, is SUVed daily after noon to the federal courthouse from the restaurant five blocks away. Though most defendants would probably take the lunch break to get some air, the frigid New York weather has caused Stewart & Co. to stay indoors. Court personnel don’t mind the routine, since leftovers are earmarked for them.

Big Joe will tell you he loves the business, though Stewart is the first high-profile defendant to avail herself of the eatery’s proximity. His regular clientele are those working in the courts nearby. “Judges, lawyers, U.S. marshals, that’s who we get,” says Big Joe, who adds that Manhattan Dist. Atty. Robert Morgenthau has a “booth in the place,” which he reserves regularly.

And Big Joe has had more than a brush with famous folk. “Michael Imperioli was a busboy here about 15 years ago,” he says of the actor who plays Tony Soprano’s nephew, Christopher. “His brother, John, is my night bartender,” Big Joe adds. Pierce Brosnan and Ben Stiller have supped there.