New York City’s Flatiron district at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Broadway is bustling with bold-faced Italian food ventures. Two blocks north from Eataly’s flagship on Fifth Avenue, Felice Flatiron opened its own flagship restaurant this summer in a cavernous space previously occupied by a Belgian beer café and then a Baja Mexican restaurant.
The Felice restaurant chain is owned and operated by SA Hospitality Group which has three emblematic food and beverage companies: Sant Ambroeus, Casa Lever, and Felice. Jacopo Giustiniani is the founder, managing partner, and wine-buyer. A few days before it opened to the public, we had a chance to speak with Jacopo to find out more about his vision for Felice Flatiron with a focus on the restaurant’s wine programming.
You come from a family of winemakers in Lucca, Italy. How has this background helped you in your career in the hospitality industry and how valuable is it in the wine selection for Felice Flatiron?
I often joke that wine runs in my blood — not just because my family makes it, but because I genuinely love drinking it too. Growing up in a wine-producing family gave me a real, hands-on understanding of the entire process, from cultivating the grapes to bottling the final wine. It also opened the door to relationships with other producers early on and inspired me to keep learning and tasting. What started as simply part of my upbringing has become a true passion, and it's something I carry with me every day at Felice.
What are the criteria for selecting a wine for Felice, and is there a particular wine profile you have in mind when you’re finalizing the selection (price, region, trends)?
We taste constantly, trying wines through our vendors and around the city, always looking for something exciting. We tend to gravitate toward small producers, people who are hands-on with their own vineyards and really put themselves into the bottle. Honestly, we don't work from a strict formula. Price, region, trends, they all factor in, but in the end we trust our instincts and our palates more than any checklist.
How often do you rotate the wine selection? Is it based on what you sell/replenishment of the inventory, or trends, or seasons?
We look closely at our product mix to decide what needs to change, but the seasons play a big role too, along with how the menu evolves and what trends are moving through the industry.
How did you work with the design team for wine storage and display? Can you describe your wine-by-the-glass program for Felice Flatiron?
The wine list came first, and everything else followed from there. For Flatiron specifically, we made the decision to edit the list down and really focus on our favorite bottles rather than trying to have everything. Our storage was built around the number of labels we wanted to carry. As for the by-the-glass program, we kept it centered in the $16–$23 range, with a wider mix of international wines than you'd typically expect, because I wanted to give guests the chance to discover new wines and varietals they might not have discovered otherwise.
Are you concerned about the trend among young people to drink less wine and what is Felice doing to work around this current trend?
I think it's a real trend, but I believe we may have already hit the bottom of it. Guests still love a good glass of wine, they're just choosing to drink less, but better. That's exactly why it matters so much to select wines with real identity and character, and to make sure our team is properly trained to guide guests toward something meaningful.
Any thoughts on “organic” wine?
Organic is the future, no question. But there's still a lot of confusion around the
terminology: sustainable, biodynamic, and so on. "Natural," for example, doesn't really mean anything on its own. Wines need to be certified and show it clearly on the label if the industry wants people to trust it.
What is it about Italian wines in general that you like, besides being Italian? It is the diversity of the wines and growing regions? Is the importance of Italy in the history of wine?
There are incredible wines being made all over the world, but what I love most about Italian wine is the sheer diversity, the range of grape varieties, the growing regions, and the history behind every bottle. On top of that, the quality-to-price value is hard to beat.
Is there one particular Italian wine you go out of your way to drink, buy for personal reasons and why?
Sangiovese, without question. Maybe it's no surprise given my Tuscan roots, but it's the wine I keep coming back to.
Do you ever have a cocktail and if you do, what do you like?
If I'm ordering a cocktail, it's usually a Mezcal, I like Agua Mágica, on the rocks, with just a touch of sparkling water and a slice of lemon or lime.
Felice Flatiron 220 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10001 @felice.restaurants
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