Going to Roscioli is a trip-to-Italy status symbol. If you were in Rome, and you didn’t go to Roscioli, were you really even in Rome? Carbonara hopefuls plan months in advance for the chance to sample some masterfully al dente rigatoni. Now, Roscioli has arrived stateside, and even in a country that lacks immediate access to Italian dairy cows or the pope, the carbonara is just as good.
To be a Roscioli of NYC enthusiast, you’ve first got to wrap your head around one thing: They have not arrived in Soho to put mushrooms in their carbonara, or experiment with vegan cheese. The pasta is strictly al dente, the sauces are textbook examples of emulsification, and the most expensive menu item is a $125 cheese, aged in clay, and served with honey, jams, and balsamic.
And yet, there’s nothing rigid or stuffy about this two-level spot on the corner of MacDougal and King, with paintings of retired, potbellied superheroes on the walls. Upstairs, there are jars of pomodoro and artichoke hearts for sale, and cans of spaghetti and meatballs by “Chef Ros-Ci-Oli”—a play on Spaghetti-O’s that is almost certainly making fun of us.
A metal staircase that borders on treacherous leads to the cave-like downstairs, where you can hold hands across the table with someone who would love to hear more about each wine, including who picked the grapes, and also where that grape-picker was born. A meal here is romantic and candlelit, but we like eating in the upstairs alimentari even more, especially at lunch (Friday-Sunday). It’s like eating in a deli, but a fancy one, stocked with luscious tomato sauce, and perfectly marbled mortadella.
Couples in very expensive sweatpants eat burrata, and parents share salumi with their millennial children, who are good at snagging tough reservations. You might see the occasional well-dressed toddler, who has been to Italy at least twice (once in utero), and knows her way around a noodle. Solo diners who believe in the health benefits of two glasses of wine, a bowl of pasta, and a tiramisu sit at the counter, looking into an open kitchen that’s the size of a coat closet.
Claiming that a meal will transport you to Italy is silly, because at the end of it you’ll still be in NYC, where people regularly endure 90-minute table limits, and don’t drink nearly enough red wine. But at Roscioli, in a dining room full of people lingering over velvety carbonara and having another glass of barolo with their tiramisu, you might get pretty damn close.
Food RundownFree Bread and Olive Oil
Every meal here starts with bread and olive oil. Please don’t ask for butter, because we’re not sure what would happen to you if you did. Please do finish your olive oil, because they’ll bring you another kind, and it will taste different.
Carbonara
This is approximately 21 pieces of perfectly al dente mezzi rigatoni, with big chunks of guanciale, in a sauce that you’ll think about applying like moisturizer. You’ll love each rigatoni more than the last, and by the end of the bowl, you will miss them all terribly.
photo credit: Alex Staniloff
Amatriciana
The optimal order at Roscioli involves both carbonara and amatriciana, the tomato-based, acidic counterpart to the white pasta. It also has big chunks of guanciale, and so much parmesan cheese on top that it might elicit a “do you want some pasta with your parmesan?” joke.
photo credit: Alex Staniloff
Cacio e Pepe
This isn’t the best pasta here, and that could very well be attributed to its comparative lack of lardons. But it’s still a pile of thin, al dente noodles in an expertly emulsified cheese sauce that is better than anything we’ve ever attempted to emulsify.
Supplì
If you order just one of these crisp, oblong rice balls so that everyone in your party can “have a little bite” and “save room for other things,” you’re making a grave mistake. Filled with cheese and meat sauce, and dusted with grated parmesan and cacao, this is a one-per-person kind of appetizer.
photo credit: Alex Staniloff
Burrata
If you’ve become disenchanted by burrata because it’s basically everywhere these days, you’ve come to the right place. There are five burrata dishes upstairs, and one downstairs, and each will remind you why this creamy cheese became so beloved in the first place. Go for the one with the Cantabrian anchovy blanket, or the one with sweet, semi-dried tomatoes.
photo credit: Alex Staniloff
Formaggi and Salumi
Roscioli has a lot of cheese, and a lot of cured meats. There’s even a cheese board, made up entirely of different rinds, with the disclaimer: “This Is A Little Geeky, But We Promise These Are Special Ones.” But if you aren’t a self-identified cheese geek, get the cured meat and cheese board, which might include a particularly grainy parm, or a jamon serrano aged for five years.
photo credit: Alex Staniloff
Sott’Oli
There are seven different types of vegetables packed in olive oil, and they’re best eaten alongside bread, and a melty piece of jamon. We like the puntarelle sott’olio, or the wild onions.
photo credit: Alex Staniloff
Tiramisu
The famed tiramisu is about 87% whipped cream, and all the better for it. You unfortunately can’t inhale this dessert, because it’s covered in a hefty shower of cough-inducing cocoa powder. But this is ultimately for the best, because as you soon as have your last bite, you will wish you could start all over again.
photo credit: Alex Staniloff
Dining and Cooking