The Art of Perfect Vibes: How NYC’s Hottest Restaurants Got That Way
The lively dining room at Torrisi in SoHo.
Photographer: Evan Sung/The New York Times/Redux
It’s a Monday night at Torrisi in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood, and the brick-lined dining room is packed. At one table, a cashmere-clad young couple gleefully plots a coming vacation. At a round banquette, a group of older women in blazers clink glasses over a big birthday. Rows of guys directly in from finance jobs wave around big watches. The buzz is energetic; laughter ripples around the room. Our server, a smiling goateed guy in a cream-colored tuxedo jacket, comes by. “Hi,” he says, leaning in. “I’m Fernando, and we’re going to have fun tonight.” I have to believe him: Every table is celebrating. And it’s only 5:30 p.m. on the slowest restaurant night of the week.
“We call it ‘Torrisi, the Musical,’” says Rich Torrisi, the chef behind this dynamic Italian American sibling of the world-famous Carbone, who stops by our table. “We make everyone feel like they’re part of the show, and that we’re celebrating with them.”