Danny Meyer’s infatuation with Rome goes back to his time there as a college student. Now the prolific restaurateur is about to open a small outpost of the Eternal City on the ground floor of a hotel in the NoMad neighborhood.
The Redbury New York, formerly the Martha Washington Hotel, is where three years ago Mr. Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group opened Marta, with a menu of thin-crusted Roman-style pizzas. Mr. Meyer and his chef, Joe Tarasco, are adding other components that they feel are essential to a Roman experience, all linked by a wide, blocklong corridor that runs through the hotel from 29th to 30th Streets.
Caffé Marchio, opening in mid- to late August, will be a stand-up coffee bar with sandwiches and pastries. Vini e Fritti, which should be ready in September, will be a wine bar specializing in Roman fried snacks, wines with an emphasis on sparklers, and aperitivos. Each has its own entrance on East 30th Street, and the two face each other across a kind of foyer.
“I see this like a Roman piazza,” Mr. Meyer said. “You have the coffee, the pizza, the wine bar.”
The coffee at Caffé Marchio will be provided by Joe Coffee, a company in which the Union Square Group has invested, and will be austere by New York standards. Only one blend, a robusta in a Roman style, will be offered, with no fancy barista decorations.
“There’s a risk, and we hope people will understand,” Mr. Tarasco said. Coffee granitas and the popular Italian cold coffee drink called a shakerato will also be served. Jessica Weiss, the pastry chef for Marta and Maialino, will be making the glazed cornetti and other sweets.