At the entrance, customers are greeted by two Roman gladiator statues and a touch of intentional graffiti, a bold pronouncement to the restaurant’s theme. On a recent Thursday night, The Rosticceria was bright, loud and boisterous, full of upbeat music and patrons.
Chef Joey Maggiore was in the kitchen that night, with his recognizable slicked hair and gold chains, ensuring his latest endeavor ran smoothly.
A large bar runs along the right side and the hightops spill into the main dining booths. Gladiator helmets are strung between the two dining rooms and a mural on the far left depicts classic Roman carvings and more graffiti.
The decor, courtesy of Maggiore’s wife Cristina, hints at the menu, which has an urban casualness mixed with the primal feeling of eating food cooked over fire.
The menu is sizable and there are paninis, burgers, calzones and pizzas available. To start, consider ordering the savory zeppole, deep-fried dough nuggets topped with garlic butter and Grana Padano cheese or the baby artichoke appetizer. Three blackened artichokes covered in a few layers of tender leaves sit on a bed of lemon aioli, which pairs well with the buttery soft hearts.
As The Rosticceria prides itself on regional Abruzzo-style fare with an emphasis on wood-fired cooking, ordering one of the signature carnivorous entrees for dinner is a must.
Maggiore says that the menu was inspired by trips to Rome and throughout central Italy with Cristina and his late father, renowned Valley chef Tomaso Maggiore. The porchetta the family experienced during those travels helped create the Porchetteria entree, one of the restaurant's most notable dishes.
It is a deliciously moist pork roast that has spent six hours cooking and is seasoned with wild fennel pollen. The generous portion is served with hunks of deceptively simple-looking roast potatoes and a Noble Bread roll. It’s the type of meal one could imagine being served in ancient Rome and ties the restaurant’s theme all together.
The fennel on the pork hits the mouth first and then quickly backs off, leaving a wonderfully succulent bite. Perfectly roasted with soft interiors, the potatoes pair well with flavor coming from rotisserie drippings, garlic and onion.
There are classic Maggiore touches throughout the menu, like the sumptuously rich 10-layer lasagna made with the signature short rib and a build-your-own bar, this time with toppings for gelato shakes. Fans of Maggiore's other restaurants will find the new concept comfortable and familiar, but the rotisserie emphasis brings a new twist to the experience.
To round out the main course, order some of the shareable side dishes. The salt and vinegar fries more closely resemble potato chips and are hard to resist, the flavor strongly reminiscent of what comes at an English fish n’ chip shop.
The side of rigatoni carbonara is unctuous and not overly sauced. Paired with a meat entree, it's a great way to get in a few bites of pasta. An order of roasted corn cacio e pepe was slightly disappointing, as it tasted more singularly of corn without the notes of Parmigiano cheese or black pepper.
Make sure to save room for something sweet as the desserts are too good to miss. Unlike their appetizer counterparts, the zeppoles served for dessert are lighter and more airy, dusted with powdered sugar and served in an adorable metal tin.
The Rosticceria’s menu leans heavier but is easy to share in a family-style feast. It’s the type of place to watch a game or meet up with friends, just expect to leave with leftovers.
