Salumeria Rosi Parmacotto

Profile

A partnership between former Maremma chef Cesare Casella and Italian meat masters Parmacotto produced this salumeria-cum-small-plates restaurant that’s also a lesson in tiny-space efficiency. Cured meats are unobtrusively positioned at a counter by the entrance, where butchers slice both grocery and in-house portions to order. The L-shaped room feels both intimate and hip, thanks to black-mirrored walls and an imaginative map of Italy built from plaster-cast fruits, vegetables, and meats. It’s the Tuscan food that holds your attention, however; a rich salad of asparagus and chopped egg is brightened by a sharp vinaigrette, a Lilliputian serving of rigatoni all’amatriciana is toothsome with meaty bites of guanciale, and a single Tuscan-style short rib is served in a rosemary-inflected tomato ragù that’s almost juicier than the meat itself. A vast selection of precisely seasoned salumi and a small cluster of Italian cheeses are available individually in chef-selected mixed platters that also make a good value. On particularly busy nights, the host will gently inform you that they’ll need the table back in an hour or so—even if you have a reservation—making it difficult to linger over the ricotta cheesecake. — Helen Rosner

Chef Cesare Casella is no longer involved with the restaurant.

Small Selezione del Salumiere, $18; Costina [Tuscan short rib], $16; Torta di Ricotta, $9

Related Stories

Best of New York Awards

• Best Meatballs (2010)

Featured In

• Eat Cheap 2009: The Cheap List (7/20/09)
• Adam Platt's Where to Eat 2009 (1/5/09)
• Fall Preview 2008: The Best of the Season's New Restaurants (9/1/08)

Recipes at Salumeria Rosi Parmacotto

• Salumeria Spritzer (2011)
• Prosciutto Brittle (2011)