Trapizzino, the Roman-inspired street food eatery nestled among the gritty landscape of New York City’s Lower East Side, has finally reopened after last year’s mandatory pandemic closing. It reemerges, premiering a cocktail menu, expanded food offerings including lunch and weekend brunch (coming soon), plus al fresco dining. These new additions further embody an Italian-style casual dining vibe.
“When I was in Italy for the first time, I saw people drinking spumante at noon on a Tuesday, then they are drinking bottles of wine, and they went back to work,” says Nick Hatsatouris, the Australian-born restaurateur, who also co-owns Hamptons Italian food hot spot Moby’s and Eveleigh in Los Angeles. “The idea is to capture that spirit of Italy, the idea of street food. It’s not just the street cart. It’s the side alley, the little hole in the wall wine bar. Adding a couple of things to the menu enhances that overall experience.”
Pasta from Trapizzino. Photo: Michelle Giang
At the core of the restaurant’s menu are the trapizzini, handheld pizza pockets stuffed with classic Italian ingredients. This innovation is the brainchild of Italian chef Stefano Callegari, who opened the original Trapizzino in his native Rome.
Making the trapizzini takes roughly 30 hours, beginning with a 24-hour natural fermentation process using a 200-year-old sourdough starter recipe passed down through 11 generations of an Italian baking family. The fillings are based on traditional Roman kitchen recipes, although a few international cuisines are occasionally in the mix. Perennial favorites among the New York crowd are pollo alla cacciatora—chicken with white wine, garlic, and rosemary—and coda alla vaccinara, a nine-hour braised oxtail with red wine and tomato.
There are also seasonal trapizzini specials, including a chicken and bell pepper combination, commemorating the Italian holiday Ferragosto, celebrated in August. Another is zighini, a spicy beef filling containing berbere spices inspired by the Ethiopian community in Rome.
Adding pasta and antipasti options to the menu simultaneously satiates the hunger pangs of the New Yorker on the go and the one who relishes a leisurely aperitivo pace. “People who want to be out the door in three minutes walking down the street eating their food, that’s great. We would never want to turn our back on those roots, but we also know some of our guests want to sit down, hang and feel transported,” says Hatsatouris.
Pasta dishes focus on two classics: cacio e pepe and rigatoni al ragu. The antipasti selections offer vegetarian options like chickpeas or marinated mushrooms plus carnivore delights finocchiona and mortadella.
While the Italian beer and wine list haven’t changed much (orange wine from Emilia-Romagna is still available), debuting a cocktail menu mirroring the aperitivo spirit is a welcoming vibe among the bar-hopping culture of the Lower East Side. In addition to Negronis on tap, bar director Maxime Belfand, previously with AvroKO Hospitality Group, introduces a Fig Negroni made with house-infused fig vermouth and a Sgroppino using lemon-rosemary sorbet. There’s also an organic grapefruit soda-based Trapizzino spritz in a can, a collaboration with Martini Fiero and San Pellegrino.
Snacks at trapizzino.
Although it’s not the easiest environment to reopen a restaurant during a labor shortage coupled with ongoing Covid-19 restrictions, Trapizzino seems to be off to a good start. The neighborhood regulars are back ordering their espresso-based coffee at the take-out window, the brand new patio and outdoor dining seats are filling up, and a brunch and lunch menu are rolling out in September. Brunch will feature items like bomboloni, ricotta toast, and a focaccia egg sandwich with mortadella and spicy Calabrian chile.
144 Orchard Street remains the only Trapizzino location outside of Italy. Will more U.S. outposts be opening in the future? “Absolutely. Probably every other week, I get an email from someone saying, ‘When are you opening in San Diego? In Boulder?’ There’s so much interest. We’ll get to those places when the time is right. No rush,” shares Hatsatouris.
Visit www.trapizzinousa.com for hours and follow along on Instagram @trapizzinousa.