The restaurant, which was announced in February as the successor to the long-running date-night hotspot Sushi Roku, will be open daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
“Our goal is to give guests a unique and unforgettable experience,” says Travis Strickland, COO of the team behind the restaurant, Alliance Hospitality Group.
Sexy Roman promises crudo, pasta and martinis
To hold up the culinary end of the experience, James Beard-nominated chef Jason Franey leads the kitchen.The dinner menu centers around housemade pastas, including leek agnolotti with ricotta and black truffle and burrata-filled tortellini served with a short rib ragu. Pair the pastas with a bone-in veal Milanese or a steak amped up with gorgonzola cream or Calabrian chile bomba sauce.
Starters include raw items such as ahi tuna crudo with harissa vinaigrette, eggplant caviar and crispy olives. Other snacks on offer are saffron suppli, the fried rice balls popular in Rome, or Sexy Roman’s take on the crispy cheese stick: fried aged provolone served with marinara.
Go bigger with a seafood tower brimming with lobster, shrimp and oysters that can be topped with tomato mignonette or house hot sauce.
Dessert options include house-churned gelato and tiramisu crowned with a pour of coffee crème anglaise and chocolate shavings at the table.
At the bar, a “sophisticated drink program gives guests exclusive access to cult-level Italian wines and specialty cocktails,” Strickland said in the release.
At the restaurant, a bronze-glass encased wine cellar holds 760 bottles and a sommelier is on hand to help customers make a vintage selection.
Ordering a martini requires less conversation. Soon, customers will be able to place an order for the classic sip at the push of a button. Then, Sexy Roman’s roving bar cart will appear with a bartender ready to shake drinks tableside.
The design of the space keeps the party vibe in mind with ice buckets built into the olive wood booths. There are touches that nod to Tuscany, and decor inspired by luxury trains, the release said, including hand-trowelled plaster walls, brass lighting and marble tabletops.
Alliance also runs Phoenix’s Flint by Baltaire and the restaurant group hopes to build on the success of the Biltmore-area eatery.
“We’ve had tremendous success with Flint by Baltaire, and we want to continue that momentum with Sexy Roman,” Franey said in the release.
Reservations for Sexy Roman are now live.
