Tourists Welcome

Roscioli is a Roman holiday, for better or worse.

- MATTHEW SCHNEIER

IF YOU KNOW an American who has been to Rome, you know an American who has been to Roscioli. Nearly every Yank I spoke to about the Italian import immediately glazed over with rapture, remembering a trip to the Eternal City and a meal at the little salumeria on the Via dei Giubbonari that transforms, with the addition of a few tables, into a restaurant. It is a “deli with kitchen,” according to the Roscioli family who runs it, and for those who long for la dolce vita among the culatelli, it is a must-visit.

So too for those who long for la dolce vita in our less eternal city. Roscioli arrived on American shores this past summer, the first satellite beyond Rome, and like its Italian cousin, Roscioli NYC has drawn American crowds. The first night I went, 40 people buzzed about the corner outside, waiting eagerly to be let in for their dinner reservation. The New York restaurant is divided into two parts: a street-level alimentari and a downstairs tasting room, where a fixed menu with wine pairings is served twice each night. Reservations are scarce; on a recent Monday, a server confided that there were 1,200 people on the waiting list. Our own trio of upstairs bar seats had been secured by showing up at 4:37 p.m. (the restaurant’s first seating is at 5:30), only to find ourselves second in line.