September 24, 2008 |
Short Order
Photo: Steven Richter
Yesterday it was packing cases and plywood. Today, Wednesday September 24, Cesare Casella and partners opened Salumeria Rosi at 283 Amsterdam Avenue to the Italian press for lunch. I was walking from my office half a block away to pick up cole slaw for my own top lunch when I saw the crowd next door to Jacques Torres. “Taste this...the best prosciutto,” said Cesare in his Salumeria Rosa jacket, offering a platter of splendid ham. “My partners make prosciutto.” The chosen few nibbled truffled cacciota cheese with foccacia and some pecked away on their computers.
Last time I passed it was posters on wooden barricades. It seems workers flown in from Italy assembled the place from imported parts overnight, attaching an Archibaldo to the ceiling and hanging hams. Next come friends and family tastings, then the American press opening and finally…hungry upper westsiders. October 15 looks like a cinch.
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