Jennifer, left, and Nicole, right
Photo: Andy Martinez/Courtesy
Nicole and Jennifer Vitagliano can tell when a restaurant is female-owned. “There’s not one startling detail as to why,” says Nicole, who has been developing restaurants in and around New York City with her twin sister Jennifer, an owner of The Musket Room, for over a decade. “The details are considered, and I personally feel at ease.” Together they own Raf’s, a former bakery on Elizabeth Street with a charming ambiance beloved by the fashion crowd. (The first time I ate there, Kaia Gerber was seated one table over.) Now the sisters, who also developed The Dutchess and Cafe Zaffri together, are in research mode as they prepare to redo the food and beverage program at The Bowery Hotel, including its restaurant. Here, they name their favorite shops for housewares and ingredients, share their strategies for researching new restaurants, and discuss the joys of ordering dessert in the middle of the day.
What is your go-to place to shop for design-forward objects?
Jennifer: Nickey Kehoe is a beautiful store for housewares and hardware. Quarters for glassware, Match Pewter, and, of course, lighting. Zara Home for linens. I love thrifting for decorative items – at the Summit Antiques Center in New Jersey and the Antiques and Artisan Gallery in Stamford, Connecticut. Raffi [Nicole’s daughter] and I also love shopping at Wild Sorrel Cookbooks in the East Village and Pillow-Cat Books in the East Village.
What about design inspiration?
Nicole: We’re just coming back from Italy on a research and development trip, not just for food, but for design. Italy, specifically the south of Italy, is always an endless supply of inspiration for us. It’s not just restaurants or interiors. It’s the way people live that inspires us
Can you give an example of a time when something you saw traveling made its way into one of your restaurants?
Jennifer: A very specific design element is the back bar at Raf’s. It’s a marble tablet with our “forever menu” painted on it:We have a coffee menu and then our classic drinks menu. But that specific reference is from Grand Café Tortoni, which is the Buly café in the Marais in Paris.
When you’re on these research trips, are you just eating at as many different places as you can, or what are you looking for?
Jennifer: If we’re somewhere like Paris, it’s more about the way in which people eat and gather and the way they interact with the café—the style of service.
Nicole: The way that café then seamlessly transitions into nighttime, and it doesn’t feel like you’re in a breakfast or a lunch establishment. It still feels sexy enough to be a nighttime destination. I think they do that really well. I think we somehow managed to do that really well at Raf’s, and, you know, we’re trying to do that as well at Bowery.
We just did a day and night together with my daughter in Naples, and we hit up probably 10 to 15 pizzerias and bakeries. And it was nothing we hadn’t tried before. There was actually one champagne bar we went to, and the most I got out of it was just an ingredient that I had forgotten about, this cured tuna ingredient we used to use a lot. I bring that back to my chef. It’s not super literal.
What are your favorite restaurants in New York?
Jennifer: I think Rosella is one of the best and most fun restaurants, in my opinion.
The team’s amazing, as is the food and wine. It’s always a good time there. Kiko is our new Monday night spot.
It’s important to us because our restaurants are closed on Mondays, so we often go out with our team on Mondays. Maybe Kees after for a drink.
Le Veau d’Or is super inspiring to me. Their upstairs private dining room is also a dream birthday venue for me, but we have too many friends.
Graciela has been getting all the hype, but rightfully so. They’re friends, but it’s also some of the cleanest, most confident food that I’ve had in a while.
I don’t crave Italian food for obvious reasons. But I think Borgo is a pretty perfect restaurant.
I have very fond memories of a restaurant in the West Village called Palma and their zuppa di pesce.
I took all Nicole’s answers. Now she’s mad.
Nicole: I would just second Borgo and add Dean’s for me — they’re perfect restaurants. They don’t try too hard. There’s a lot of restraint in the food and in the design, and I’m very happy in both spaces. And then all of the girls’ restaurants— Dean’s, King, Lei— I love them all very much. You can tell that they’re female-owned.
How so?
Nicole: The details are considered, and I personally feel at ease. It just makes for a great meal. They’re confident and they’re friendly, and the design is very intentional but very restrained. Nothing’s trying too hard. There’s not one startling detail as to why, but I think all of those little things make a difference.
Do you have any go-to stores for kitchen supplies here?
Nicole: My philosophy is that everything tends to be very utilitarian here and quick and cheap and designed to get the job done, whereas in Europe, even the most ordinary kitchen object has some beauty to it. So I don’t really think there are great kitchen shops in New York and the US. That said, we are incredibly grateful for the Bowery. We’re very grateful all of those restaurant supply stores exist, and they’ve been our savior time after time.
Jennifer: I think JB Prince or any of the shops on the Bowery for straightforward tools. Nicky Kehoe could also fit into that category. They have really beautiful housewares.
What about sourcing ingredients?
Jennifer: I always like to stop by SOS Chefs for inspiration or for specific ingredients. The last time I was there, the owner sent me home with a bag of dates because she could sense that I hadn’t eaten. Especially when we were researching Middle Eastern food, it was important for us to go there. It could also fit the housewares question, because they do have such beautiful products.
Favorite wine bar or wine shop?
Nicole: Well, I already said Lei.
Jennifer: Convive is my favorite wine shop in the East Village. It’s one of the only shops that I know that I could call and give them a price range and kind of what I’m after, tell them what I’m eating. They know what I like because they have it on file. And they’ll just send something within a few hours. They’ve got a great bottle list under $30. They’ve got natural stuff. They’ve got more traditional stuff. Just a beautiful store.
Wine Therapy on our block as well. I really like this place called Bar B. It’s on 7th Avenue. I’ve always had an affinity for tapas. And it’s standing room only, and it’s just so romantic. Also, Stars is amazing.
Nicole: I love Stars.
What are your favorite Italian markets or bakeries?
Nicole: We do miss Alimentari Flaneur.
Jennifer: I just discovered a place called Best Sicily in the Financial District. They had a lot of olive oils and dried pasta, but I thought it was really sweet for just grabbing an espresso and really nice Italian cookies, like biscotti and amaretti. They fill cannolis to order.
Raf’s is the former home of Parisi Bakery and Angelina Bivona’s bakery before that. We’re still baking here on site in those same ovens, but for true Italian bread, there’s the Parisi Bakery on Mott Street. Anytime you see a twisted sesame loaf, you should get it.
I’m really big on cookies for dessert. We’ll go to Veniero’s – their cookie plates are a go-to for me, specifically for biscotti or anise toast. It’s a bakery that has a dining room that only serves coffee, drinks, and desserts. It’s really sweet to sit there and kind of intentionally have dessert in the middle of the day.
Any other specialty stores we missed?
Nicole: I go to Osakana a few times a week. My daughter Raffi requests hand rolls for dinner often, so I get either sushi-grade salmon or whatever they have, miso-marinated, for cooking. I also love to treat myself to a pallet of uni from there.
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