Salumeria Rosi

[docsconz]

Stayiing at the apartment of friends in the Upper West Side of Manhattan last week, I was curious to try the new salumeria in the area owned and run by Cesare Casella, Salumeria Rosi. having heard a rumor that the shop/restaurant had opened I arranged to meet my brother and sister there for lunch. While the Marketplace of the salumeria would be open later in the afternoon and they were planning on serving their opening dinner that night, unfortunately they were not yet open for lunch. Instead we wound up at the not too far and still quite new Shake Shack UWS. Suffice to say that we enjoyed each others company, but this post is not about Shake Shack. After our lunch, I headed downtown for some business and returned to the UWS later in the afternoon.

2Since the marketplace was supposed to be open, I decided to return and check it out. Still a bit late from the time we were told earlier, but clearly closer to fruition, the marketplace was just about to open, but only in a soft sense. They were not quite yet doing business, but Casella and his staff were there with samples of their wares for prospective customers to try. Though small and with a low-key storefront located to the also low-key, small storefront of the new Jacques Torres chocolate shop, the shop/restaurant was very nicely appointed with the salumeria counter at the entrance and some tables to the side and the rear. With prosciutti hanging from the ceiling in front of the wall behind the counter, the offerings looked fresh and delicious. Freshly imported mozzarelle di bufala and burate along with other Italian cheeses lined part of the glass enclosed refrigerated cabinet.A variety of salumi were to the left of the cheeses as one peered into the glass, while a number of prepared products along with olives and other items lay to the right of the cheeses from the onlooker's perspective. The presentations were colorful and beautiful in the glass cases.

Cesare Casella himself cut some Prosciutto di Parma by hand for me to taste, while the countermen sliced some more of that as well as prosciutto cotto, Mortadella and Prosciutto di San Daniele to sample. The samples were delicious, my preference in this case being for the Prosciuuto di Parma over the San Daniele. The Parma was, in this instance, more complex and with deeper flavor. Another time, I would love to return to try the many other items available. This should be a fine addition to that neighborhood.

For more photos, please see my photo album on my new blog, aka "Docsconz - the Blog."

Edited November 12, 2008 by docsconz (log)