Dinner Parties, New Restaurants, US Open Chefs, and more New York Italian Food News

Dinner Parties in the Pasta Room at Forsythia

On Tuesday, Forsythia, a Roman trattoria, at 9 Stanton Street on the Lower East Side, continued its dinner party series with a multi-course, prix-fixe dinner (with optional wine pairings) in their private Pasta Room adjacent to the main location. Each festive, convivial event features a different regional cuisine, curated and hosted by Executive Chef Emily Swaine and General Manager/Wine Director Charlotte Mirzoeff. The series started in late May with a "Taste of Lazio" and has subsequently made gastronomic visits to Campania and Tuscany before Tuesday's excursion to Sicily with two antipasti, two primi, and three desserts representing authentic Sicilian cuisine. The series will continue indefinitely with the next dinner party being a collaboration on August 8th with Sycamore Farms from the Hudson Valley (reserve here). 

Also of note at Forsythia, beginning this week, the restaurant will open for seven days, offering guests the choice of the à la carte menu or the 5-course prix fixe nightly. Pastas, always made entirely by hand or shaped with traditional hand-operated machinery, continue to serve as the heartbeat of the restaurant.

A New Rosemary’s in the Works

Long-running Italian restaurant Rosemary’s announced that it will open a third location later this year just north of Grand Central Station at 825 Third Avenue (at 50th St.).

Known for its sophisticated brunch and farm-to-table Italian at its West Village and Gramercy locations, Rosemary’s will serve a glitzier crowd, joining the Durst Organization’s tenants at a modernized Midtown office tower. 

No official date has been announced, but a release touts the relationship with the real estate firm but also with McEnroe Organic Farm, which is a longstanding partnership with Durst. Other details on the new space: Rosemary’s will occupy a 3,000-square-foot section on the ground floor, with a corner dining room that will seat 100 inside, with a private dining room for 22, and bar seating for 40. There is also an outdoor patio planned for 50 guests. A convenient “grab-and-go” counter, Rosemary’s Pantry, will serve coffee, sandwiches, and pastries. 

Chefs and Food Options Announced for U.S. Open, the Grand Slam tennis event in Queens

The lineup for this year’s U.S. Open culinary options includes several top NYC personalities known for Italian food. Food Network personality Alex Guarnaschelli, whose Ciao House was recently renewed for a second season, headlines a list that includes butcher-turned-restaurateur Pat LaFrieda as well as several new star chef additions and longtime U.S. Open favorites.

Kwame Onwuachi (Tatiana) and James Kent (Crown Shy) join tennis food vets David Burke, Masahuru Morimoto and others with restaurants and food stalls at the world’s largest annual sports event, which takes place August 28-September 10 in Flushing Meadows, Queens.

Before the Grand Slam tournament begins, on August 24, these chefs and others will appear alongside tennis stars and celebrities at Flavors of the Open, a tastearound featuring great food and drinks and other activities. Tickets are available for $175 via Ticketmaster. For more information about this year’s food options at the tournament visit USOpen.org.

A Favorite Son Comes Back to Troutbeck in the Hudson Valley

Vincent Gilberti is the new executive chef at Troutbeck, the historic hotel in Amenia, about 90 miles north of NYC. He had been serving as Chef de Cuisine at celebrated San Francisco Italian restaurant SPQR, but comes back to the Hudson Valley town where he cooked as a young man after growing up in nearby Carmel. 

Gilberti will oversee the culinary offerings at the 37-room hotel, part of an estate that dates to the mid-1700s. He will have access to some of New York State’s best produce and ingredients at Troutbeck, with local farms that provide a significant portion of the fresh vegetables, meats, and fruit favored by upscale restaurants in New York City.

An announcement about Gilberti’s appointment notes that his “vibrant, satisfying menus are impeccably sourced from local Hudson Valley growers and infused with his passions and gastronomic vision including whole animal cooking, handmade pasta techniques and a commitment to eliminating food waste.”

More information and reservations are at troutbeck.com

A Special Event with ookbook author Susan Spungen in Hudson

Further up the Hudson Valley, in the city of Hudson, the world-class food shop Talbott & Arding will host a special event featuring cook, food stylist, and author Susan Spungen in conversation with chef Clare de Boer, Sunday August 6 at 7pm. 

Spungen’s vibrant new book, Veg Forward, features seasonal recipes along with stories and, of course, incredible photography. (Check out her recipe for sungold tomato spaghetti carbonara, which she shared with Appetito recently).

Perhaps best-known for her work as culinary consultant and food stylist on the food-focused films Julie & Julia and Eat, Pray, Love, Spungen will share stories with de Boer, the chef and co-owner of acclaimed NYC restaurants King and Jupiter, and owner of her own Hudson Valley restaurant, Stissing House. (Appetito featured a recipe from Jupiter, for pork spiedini, this past spring.)

Tickets for Spungen's event include food and water, and wine by the glass will be available for sale on-site. Books will also be available for purchase during the event, with Spungen available for signing. Tickets are free, but an RSVP is required; it is expected to fill up quickly, so act soon. Sign up via Eventbrite.