The team behind one of New York’s most popular restaurants is currently cooking up a brand new concept for the Hudson square submarket.
If you haven’t been to Via Carota yet, you’re missing out. Founded by self-taught chefs Jody Williams and Rita Sodi, the pair has earned substantial critical acclaim from the start. Williams, a renowned chef and author, was the original owner of Buvette, a prestigious Parisian restaurant that has been nominated for the James Beard award three years in a row. The success of Buvette enabled her to write her very own memoir, Buvette: The Pleasure of Good Food, which is currently available on Amazon.
Rita, meanwhile, was the chef and founder of I Sodi, a popular Italian restaurant that she opened on Christopher Street in 2008. Earning acclaim for I Sodi’s “low-key, utterly traditional, and perfectly executed Tuscan food,” Sodi’s restaurant was featured in a plethora of different magazines, including a feature in the 2019 Michelin Guide. Sourcing all of her olive oil from her own family home north of Florence, Sodi’s Italian cuisine is some of the most authentic that can be found in the city.
When the couple finally met, they would go on to found Via Carota in 2014 as an Italian gastroteca. A gastroteca is a popular Mediterranean concept in Spain and Italy, defined as comfortable, local neighborhood restaurant that features farm-to-table dishes designed to support local producers. Putting sustainability and freshness at the forefront of their thought, Jody and Rita’s mission with Via Carota is to honor markets and farms from season to season, ensuring that every dish they cook is prepared with ingredients sourced by local producers. They even list their sources directly on their website, enabling curious customers to find out where exactly their poached pear came from.
Now, it appears that the Via Carota team is debuting a new concept at 333 Hudson Street. Tentatively titled Via Carota Craft Cocktails, the new concept will be joining Westville and Hudson Square Food Court in the spacious new building. Expected to specialize in the signature cocktails that Via Carota is known for, the new bar is an exciting new opportunity for Hudson Square residents to try out the food that made Rita and Jody so popular.
