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You know and love Raf's for it's French and Italian baked goods but, for the next few days, the cozy cafe is going all in on red sauce. The downtown favorite is hosting a dinner-only pop-up celebrating family history and Italian-American classics. It’s called Frank & Sal’s, and it runs now through January 17.
Frank & Sal’s is inspired by the family kitchens that shaped the women behind Elizabeth Street Hospitality and influenced their love of cooking. For Mary Attea, it's her father Frank and his love of a proper Sunday sauce. For Jennifer and Nicole Vitagliano, it's their Sicilian grandfather Sal. Together, they’ve turned Raf’s into a nostalgic dinner spot celebrating recipes passed down for generations.
The menu begins where it should, with a house-baked sesame loaf served with butter and long hot peppers, followed by sharable antipasti and primi like garbanzo beans, roasted red peppers, artichokes and prosciutto. There are salt cod fritters and baked cherrystone clams with lardo, crisp winter salads like puntarelle with anchovy and lemon and a fennel and arugula mix paired with citrus and smoked almonds.
Pastas include rigatoni with Frank’s Sunday sauce and meatball, spaghetti lobster fra diavolo and pasta e fagioli. They're the classics that you would expect, made with Raf's signature skill. But that's not all: eggplant parm, skate wing and, of course, pizza (hand-tossed on house-made dough with DOP tomato). These familiar classics will transport you straight to Italy.
Desserts are as indulgent as you'd expect, from tiramisu and Italian cookies to a fior di latte gelato finished with olive oil or affogato-style.
The pop-up also features appropriately celebratory (and cheeky) merch. A limited-run T-shirt pokes fun at old-school Little Italy souvenirs, with “Frank & Sal’s Little Meatball” on the front and “I thought I was at Raf’s?” on the back.
Frank & Sal’s is an affectionate nod to parents and grandparents, to recipes written on index cards and to big, comforting meals. To see for yourself how Raf's does red sauce, book now via Resy.