Italian chain Felice opens in Roslyn
Fried baby artichokes and calamari at Felice in Roslyn. Credit: Newsday/Erica Marcus
For Felice’s tenth act, the Italian restaurant group decided to venture beyond the five boroughs into Roslyn, taking up residence in a waterfront property that has been vacant for two decades. Hidden from the street behind Jojo Anavim gallery, the property housed Friend of a Farmer from 1992 to 2002 and then … nothing.
Jacopo Giustiniani, Partner & COO at Felice’s parent company, SA Hospitality Group, said that he’d never been to Roslyn until he was invited to see the property by the landlord, a longtime Roslyn resident who was also a longtime Felice customer. “I felt connected to the location right away,” the Florence-born Giustiniani said. “The charming village, the beautiful trees — it reminded me of Tuscany.”
That was in 2018. Thanks to COVID, the estimated 18-month build-out of Felice (feh-LEE-chay, “happy” in Italian) stretched into three years.
Giustiniani isn’t the only Tuscan involved with the restaurant that is “inspired by the spirit of the Tuscan countryside.” Group culinary director Iacopo Falai is a native Florentine as is Roslyn’s executive chef Niccolo Simone.
With exposed wood beams spanning its vaulted ceilings, the golden-hued dining room certainly evokes a rustic Italian fantasy. But instead of soft hills punctuated by stands of cypress trees, the room looks out onto Roslyn’s idyllic duck pond. A 34-seat brick patio offers more water (and duck) views.
The menu features a few Tuscan specialties — crostini topped with chicken-liver mousse and crisped sage leaves, imported prosciutto Toscano (a little softer and saltier than Parma) and grilled steaks alla Fiorentina. More of the fare is pan-Italian: Fried calamari and baby artichokes, arancini (rice balls), eggplant Parmesan, tonnarelli cacio e pepe, baked gnocchi with cheese and truffle, linguine ai frutte di mare, pappardelle alla Bolognese, and branzino baked in parchment. Starter prices range from $15 to $27, pastas from $24 to $35 and mains from $29 to $39, excluding the bone-in rib eye steak which is $89 for 22 ounces, $178 for $44 ounces.
Tuscan wines, of course, are among Italy’s finest. Felice’s mostly Italian list includes many Chiantis, Brunellos and Super Tuscans, as well as a number of bottles from Fattoria Sardi, the restaurant’s own organic vineyard.
For now, Felice is open for dinner seven nights a week. Lunch is coming soon.
