It will be an ambitious multipurpose venue, Roscioli's first overseas location, exporting a version of each of its distinct Roman venues. On the ground floor, there will be a restaurant, wine bar, and store for branded products and delivery; below is a variation of the Rimessa in a New York "party-style" key.
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Not even the ocean can stop the Roscioli brand, which next spring will open its first location abroad, in New York City. Not bad for what was once a simple pizzeria where Romans have been snacking on red and white pizza since the 1970s. In 2004, a small bistrot followed, with its own bread, cheeses, cold cuts and a few simple hot dishes, with the latest addition in 2017 of Rimessa, the upper-scale restaurant dedicated to wine tastings and gourmet tastings.
In the Big Apple, it will occupy part of Niche Niche restaurant on MacDougal Street in partnership with restaurateur Ariel Arce, who has contributed so much in the past few years to changing the way New Yorkers drink, diverting them to unusual and unpredictable labels, beyond the clichés of luxury. And it will be an ambitious, multifunctional venue, exporting the different souls of Roscioli in Rome: on the ground floor, there will be a store with Roscioli-branded products and delivery, a delicatessen with Roman cuisine, a restaurant and a wine bar; below ground, there will be a format that will take elements of Rimessa, hybridized with "party-style" traits of Niche Niche. This is anything but a franchise, with employees already on their way from Rome.
Ariel Arce @Gary He-Niche Niche
Niche Niche
"It all happened naturally, as a legacy of the relationships built through Niche Niche," comments Arce, who, in a way, was working in the same direction thousands of miles away. And in fact, the idea was born a couple of years ago when he was traveling to Rome with a business partner to celebrate his birthday and met Rimessa's founder and sommelier, Alessandro Pepe.
Meanwhile, the pandemic was hitting hard, pushing American restaurateurs and others to the brink, desperate to find new ways to engage diners. When Arce returned to Rimessa last summer, destiny’s bell rang: one of the managers announced he would like to begin overseas. "I'll help you," and it all took off. "The fact that this community already existed here explains why they want to come," is the comment about the elective affinities between the two entities, now united in commerce.
The Roscioli brothers - @Tommaso Ausili
Source: Eater
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