Whether it’s a long, lazy dinner by the flicker of citronella candlelight or a post-work apéro on the terrace, summer entertaining is in full swing, and we’ve enlisted the help of the most stylish hosts we know to serve up their party tricks. Pour yourself a Campari soda and settle in—it’s Aperitivo Hour.
Any event in New York City is going to have some element of the communal, by dint of its zip code: people passing by, nosily poking their heads into windows, tightly packed neighbors on all sides following along with your playlist, the more cacophonous thrum of the street outside occasionally joining in. For Jennifer and Nicole Vitagliano, twin sisters and the co-founders behind buzzy Manhattan restaurants Raf’s and The Musket Room, hosting is almost always a group effort anyway. So when their birthday rolled around, naturally, everyone got involved.
It started with the venue: Albanese, a 103-year-old butcher shop in Nolita. “Our dear friend Jennifer inherited the space from her grandfather, and she offered to host us,” says Nicole. “We wanted the evening to feel intimate and a little spontaneous, more like dropping into your favorite neighborhood place than arriving at a formal event.” They sent out invites (informal, with a date, a time, and “aperitivo birthday” as the sole description) and began cobbling together a menu. The aforementioned Jennifer contributed meatballs, their mom helmed the antipasti station, Raf’s supplied the tiramisù. “It felt personal, unexpected, and very us,” adds Nicole.
They included more of their community in smaller ways—take, for example, the drinks menu comprised of one friend’s favorite bottle of Chianti, another’s beloved Diet Cherry Cola, and “Kid Champagne” for the youngest guest—and let the party spill out onto the sidewalk, where they grilled in silk and passed around lamb skewers on Italian ceramic. “In the end, this birthday was as much about our people as it was about us,” says Nicole. “Everything was there for a reason; every piece connected us to a friend, partner, crush, or longtime supporter.” Adds Jennifer: “It was a night built around our favorite kind of abundance: the joy of sharing things made, grown, and created by the people who make our lives special.”
Photography by Christopher Petrus
Set the Scene
“The color story really began with the food—the reds of the tomato sauce and the meats, the yellow of the lemons, the green of the herbs—and grew from there. Against the butcher shop’s wonderful old-world backdrop, it felt lively, warm, and just a little Italian. Also: Nicole needs a tight color palette in order to enjoy herself.
