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\n Jennifer, left, and Nicole, right
\n Photo: Andy Martinez\/Courtesy\n <\/p>\n
Nicole and Jennifer Vitagliano can tell when a restaurant is female-owned. \u201cThere\u2019s not one startling detail as to why,\u201d 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. \u201cThe details are considered, and I personally feel at ease.\u201d Together they own Raf\u2019s, 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.<\/p>\n
What is your go-to place to shop for design-forward objects?<\/p>\n
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 \u2013 at the Summit Antiques Center in New Jersey and the Antiques and Artisan Gallery in Stamford, Connecticut. Raffi [Nicole\u2019s daughter] and I also love shopping at Wild Sorrel Cookbooks in the East Village and Pillow-Cat Books in the East Village.<\/p>\n
What about design inspiration?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nicole: We\u2019re 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\u2019s not just restaurants or interiors. It\u2019s the way people live that inspires us<\/p>\n
Can you give an example of a time when something you saw traveling made its way into one of your restaurants?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jennifer: A very specific design element is the back bar at Raf\u2019s. It\u2019s a marble tablet with our \u201cforever menu\u201d painted on it:We have a coffee menu and then our classic drinks menu. But that specific reference is from Grand Caf\u00e9 Tortoni, which is the Buly caf\u00e9 in the Marais in Paris.<\/p>\n
When you\u2019re on these research trips, are you just eating at as many different places as you can, or what are you looking for?<\/p>\n
Jennifer: If we\u2019re somewhere like Paris, it\u2019s more about the way in which people eat and gather and the way they interact with the caf\u00e9\u2014the style of service.<\/p>\n
Nicole: The way that caf\u00e9 then seamlessly transitions into nighttime, and it doesn\u2019t feel like you\u2019re 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\u2019s, and, you know, we\u2019re trying to do that as well at Bowery.<\/p>\n
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\u2019t 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\u2019s not super literal.<\/p>\n
What are your favorite restaurants in New York?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jennifer: I think Rosella<\/a> is one of the best and most fun restaurants, in my opinion.<\/p>\n The team\u2019s amazing, as is the food and wine. It\u2019s always a good time there. Kiko is our new Monday night spot.<\/p>\n It\u2019s important to us because our restaurants are closed on Mondays, so we often go out with our team on Mondays. Maybe Kees<\/a> after for a drink.<\/p>\n Le Veau d\u2019Or<\/a> is super inspiring to me. Their upstairs private dining room is also a dream birthday venue for me, but we have too many friends.<\/p>\n Graciela has been getting all the hype, but rightfully so. They\u2019re friends, but it\u2019s also some of the cleanest, most confident food that I\u2019ve had in a while.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t crave Italian food for obvious reasons. But I think Borgo<\/a> is a pretty perfect restaurant.<\/p>\n I have very fond memories of a restaurant in the West Village called Palma and their zuppa di pesce.<\/p>\n I took all Nicole\u2019s answers. Now she\u2019s mad.<\/p>\n Nicole: I would just second Borgo and add Dean\u2019s<\/a> for me \u2014 they\u2019re perfect restaurants. They don\u2019t try too hard. There\u2019s a lot of restraint in the food and in the design, and I\u2019m very happy in both spaces. And then all of the girls\u2019 restaurants\u2014 Dean\u2019s, King<\/a>, Lei<\/a>\u2014 I love them all very much. You can tell that they\u2019re female-owned.<\/p>\n How so?<\/p>\n Nicole: The details are considered, and I personally feel at ease. It just makes for a great meal. They\u2019re confident and they\u2019re friendly, and the design is very intentional but very restrained. Nothing\u2019s trying too hard. There\u2019s not one startling detail as to why, but I think all of those little things make a difference.<\/p>\n Do you have any go-to stores for kitchen supplies here?<\/p>\n 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\u2019t really think there are great kitchen shops in New York and the US. That said, we are incredibly grateful for the Bowery. We\u2019re very grateful all of those restaurant supply stores exist, and they\u2019ve been our savior time after time.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n What about sourcing ingredients?<\/p>\n 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\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n Favorite wine bar or wine shop?<\/p>\n Nicole: Well, I already said Lei.<\/p>\n Jennifer: Convive is my favorite wine shop in the East Village. It\u2019s one of the only shops that I know that I could call and give them a price range and kind of what I\u2019m after, tell them what I\u2019m eating. They know what I like because they have it on file. And they\u2019ll just send something within a few hours. They\u2019ve got a great bottle list under $30. They\u2019ve got natural stuff. They\u2019ve got more traditional stuff. Just a beautiful store.<\/p>\n Wine Therapy on our block as well. I really like this place called Bar B. It\u2019s on 7th Avenue. I\u2019ve always had an affinity for tapas. And it\u2019s standing room only, and it\u2019s just so romantic. Also, Stars is amazing.<\/p>\n Nicole: I love Stars.<\/p>\n What are your favorite Italian markets or bakeries?\u00a0<\/p>\n Nicole: We do miss Alimentari Flaneur.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Raf\u2019s is the former home of Parisi Bakery and Angelina Bivona\u2019s bakery before that. We\u2019re still baking here on site in those same ovens, but for true Italian bread, there\u2019s the Parisi Bakery on Mott Street. Anytime you see a twisted sesame loaf, you should get it.<\/p>\n I\u2019m really big on cookies for dessert. We\u2019ll go to Veniero\u2019s \u2013 their cookie plates are a go-to for me, specifically for biscotti or anise toast. It\u2019s a bakery that has a dining room that only serves coffee, drinks, and desserts. It\u2019s really sweet to sit there and kind of intentionally have dessert in the middle of the day.<\/p>\n Any other specialty stores we missed?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Stay in touch.<\/p>\n The latest in style, self, culture, and power in your inbox.<\/p>\n Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice<\/p>\n