The poster child of Alexandra and Vito is a cute little place called Aroma Kitchen & Winebar in New York City’s lower East Side. Italian in every way, the place exudes tastes and ambiance from the Mediterranean where they both grew up. They opened Aroma in March 2005 and it has been a success ever since. They also have an Aperitivo (Italian for “happy hour”) from 5 pm to 6:30 every day for a ritual of savory bites and light drinks with a flight of 3 wines and antipasti for $15 and 50% off selected wines.
I discovered it by accident when I was walking through the lower East Side with a friend of mine, so it was hit or miss when we walked in, since we hadn’t a recommendation or a reservation. It was delicious and the service was top notch.
On the list and worth ordering are the piatti piccini, warm beets, gorgonzola, fig jam, walnuts and a warm beet dressing, grilled Portuguese octopus, corona beans and green oil, meatballs, neapolitan ragu’ and smoked scamorza, sautéed cockles & mussels in fennel broth and garlic crostoni, beet-cured coho salmon carpaccio, deviled egg and sracciatella or some of their salads like the spring greens caesar salad, poached farm egg with a warm burrata, rocket, string beans, toasted walnuts, pecorino sardo served with a lemon vinaigrette or the gnudi, swiss chard & ricotta, nutmeg and a cherry tomato sauce.
Italian pasta dishes include black linguine, poached white shrimp, squid, cherry tomatoes and lobster broth, strascinati, wild mushroom soffritto, spicy lamb sausage, roasted red peppers and moliterno, linguine, New Zealand wild cockles “al cartoccio”, orecchiette ortolana, broccolini, cream of asparagus served with shiitake and pine nuts, lobster ravioli, saffron crema and rock shrimp or the gnocchi with pesto “alla ligure”, red bliss, haricot vert and parmigiano cestino.
There’s also a cast-iron oven-roasted branzino, bouquet of herbs & roasted verdure, New Bedford sea scallops wrapped in guanciale, ragu’ verde and spinach & chickpea, rosemary roasted spring chicken, Sicilian caponata, peas & smoked bacon, dry aged Angus strip steak, sautéed baby kale & capicollo and herb fried potatoes.
For more on food and wine in New York, see our great New York restaurants / top New York City restaurants.
Renee Blodgett is the founder of We Blog the World. The site combines the magic of an online culture and travel magazine with a global blog network and has contributors from every continent in the world. Having lived in 10 countries and explored nearly 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural diversity.
She is also the CEO and founder of Magic Sauce Media, a new media services consultancy focused on viral marketing, social media, branding, events and PR. For over 20 years, she has helped companies from 12 countries get traction in the market. Known for her global and organic approach to product and corporate launches, Renee practices what she pitches and as an active user of social media, she helps clients navigate digital waters from around the world. Renee has been blogging for over 16 years and regularly writes on her personal blog Down the Avenue, Huffington Post, BlogHer, We Blog the World and other sites. She was ranked #12 Social Media Influencer by Forbes Magazine and is listed as a new media influencer and game changer on various sites and books on the new media revolution. In 2013, she was listed as the 6th most influential woman in social media by Forbes Magazine on a Top 20 List.
Her passion for art, storytelling and photography led to the launch of Magic Sauce Photography, which is a visual extension of her writing, the result of which has led to producing six photo books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.
Renee is also the co-founder of Traveling Geeks, an initiative that brings entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bloggers, creators, curators and influencers to other countries to share and learn from peers, governments, corporations, and the general public in order to educate, share, evaluate, and promote innovative technologies.
