Rome's Beloved Roscioli Restaurant Is Headed For The US

An icon of Italian gastronomy is coming to the Big Apple. The Roscioli family, who have been running several food-related businesses adjacent to the Jewish Quarter in Rome since the 1970s, are planning to open their first outpost in the SoHo district in New York City later this summer. It will contain a deli and wine bar on the ground floor, as well as a restaurant in the wine cellar where the family will showcase some of the most famous dishes from Rome.

The first restaurant in the Roscioli empire was a bakery, L'Antico Forno, which was founded by brothers Franco and Marco Roscioli. Over the years, their descendants have added a salumeria (deli), a pastry shop, and a wine bar to the lineup. The original bakery prospered when it started to use margarine to make bread, which not only improved the product but also made it kosher, so it was suitable for their neighbors in the Jewish quarter. The Roscioli's are considered pioneers in the traditional Roman food scene because they import ingredients from as far away as Japan.

The New York location, which has been in planning for a decade, will offer some of the quintessential pasta preparation styles from Rome, including gricia (made with Pecorino Romano, black pepper, and guanciale), amatriciana (Pecorino, guanciale, and tomatoes) and carbonara (Pecorino, eggs, and guanciale).

Although the New York location will be the family's first expansion of the core businesses in the eternal city, they are not strangers to sharing Italian cuisine across the world. Ingredients and foods such as burrata cheese, cacio e pepe, and cream-filled buns known as maritozzi become massively popular thanks to the family's influence on social media. The family plans to import many of the ingredients from Italy, however, some items such as cured meats will have to be sourced elsewhere due to import restrictions by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

While the family continues to build the New York location — which will open in August — you can pass the time by trying this recipe for perfect pasta al limone, or this easy baked egg Florentine pasta dish for a quick weeknight dinner.