Petite Pasta Joint : A Pasta Dinner in a 113 Year Old Pasta Shop
Petite Pasta Joint or PPJ as it goes by for short, is the collaboration of Sarah Raffetto Manager of Raffetto's Pasta/ member of the Raffetto's family and Emily Fedner former line cook, food blogger, and noodle queen. These two met in the Rafettos shop when Emily came in to buy fresh pappardelle so she could make a brown butter mushroom sage pasta. When she posted her dish to Instagram she tagged the Raffetto's account, the two came together over social media and worked on their plans for what would soon become Petite Pasta Joint.
“I want them to feel transported in time by being in Raffetto’s, with a smile on their faces and anxious to rave about how fun, delicious and unique the experience was. ”
Initially, the idea for PPJ first came to be on the night of Sarah's birthday when she invited her friends over to test out her dream pop-up idea. "I have always wanted a restaurant for as long as I can remember. It was my way of doing what I love within the family business without being locked in the retail store every day." So Sarah got all of her friends together for her birthday and cooked up an amazing meal, all while testing out the concept for her dinners. "In February, with the help of my very supportive and inspiring boyfriend (who owns his own restaurant), my dream came to life as I finally accomplished this goal and hosted my friends for a birthday party." On that night she realized the magical potential in all of it. Little did her friends know at the time that they were about to be apart of something much bigger. As we ate, drank, and celebrated another year around the sun, so much more was in store. "While I thought on it for a few months and decided what my approach would be, a definitive goal was that I wanted to work with other female chefs/members of the industry on Sundays and Mondays. It's also common to share those days off and they would have the availability to work with me." Fast forward a month later and Emily had joined forces with Sarah to expand this dream. According to Emily, "After our first pop-up, Sarah and I decided we were kitchen soulmates (and long lost friends) and decided to continue the pasta pop-up together. That’s how Petite Pasta Joint was born."
Once Raffettos closes shop for the day and the door is locked, the space is transformed into a beautiful dining room. Guests come together in a communal dining space that makes you forget you're in New York City. Imagine private dining in a secret restaurant backroom, except your grandmother, is doing all of the cooking. The dishes are served family-style, the courses keep coming, and the words "low carb" are not in Nona's vocabulary. At this quaint Italian dinner, strangers quickly become friends and by the end of the evening, someone you just met is daring you to eat that last ravioli while refilling your glass with one of the wines they brought to dinner.
“I really want guests to walk away feeling like they experienced something truly special. I want them to feel the energy in the air and feed off of it. After all, they just spent their evening in a 113-year-old pasta shop, eating dinner cooked by 2 people whose cooking they can’t experience anywhere else, in a space that’s never-before hosted gatherings of this kind. I want them to feel like they took a chance by coming to our humble gathering, and that we delivered beyond expectation.”- Emily
One of my favorite nights out in New York City..and I'm not just saying that because I pop in as their guest baker, official taste tester, and throw down with them in the kitchen on occasion. I absolutely adore these two and promise you will too.
These two women obsess about their menu (after all we have a group chat where corn ravioli has become a real topic) and curate ingredients based on local farmer's markets all while incorporating Sarah's Nona's family recipes into the mix. As Emily points out, "I hate to be 'that bitch', but a lot of what we do is seasonally-inspired based on what’s happening at the market. Somewhere along the way, 'seasonal' and 'farm-to-table' evolved into buzz-words/pitches for restaurants but it’s actually the only thing that’s ever made sense: cook what’s growing right now! It tastes best."
Sarah explains PPJ: "It's a unique, entertaining and delicious option for Italian dining in New York. Where else can you see a retail store that is 113 years old be transformed into an integrated, family-style meal that encourages everyone to get to know each other and have a blast over pasta? Its simplicity exudes so much more than the notion of going to an exorbitantly high end or expensive restaurant because, although they are elite you can get into most of them regularly, but not PPJ. I like to think it avoids being exclusive in a snobby way."
A Few Questions With Sarah & Emily
Why is it important for you to be doing this?
Sarah: Through a series of other ideas and the rude awakening of how difficult it can be to own a restaurant I focused more on the thought of doing pop up dinners in the store. Since its a space that we have owned since 1919, it has unique options and the ability to capitalize on a free space during off-hours. What I originally imagined to be more of a lemonade stand is quickly gaining traction thanks to the endless support and aid of talented friends (like you) and adding Mike and Jordana who formed their own hospitality group, Seat at the Table to run the front of the house. It is so important for me to be doing this because I feel that I have truly found the sweet spot of entertaining alongside people I love and trust, cooking, making extra money and expanding awareness of Raffetto’s all while still having some free time that would not be possible if it were a traditional restaurant.
How does it differ from working in a restaurant? Do you like having more control vs the restaurant kitchen?
Emily: Cooking for PPJ dinners falls somewhere between cooking for a large dinner party of friends and cooking at a restaurant. I enjoy the creative control a lot but also miss the organized structure of restaurant work. We’re not yet at a place where everything is down pat - from sourcing ingredients to prepping to creating a mise-en-place, everything is still a work in progress. It’s exciting but for someone as Type A as me, it can also be super intimidating/stressful to NOT have all the answers or a defined routine. At the same time, this is what makes it so exhilarating. But aside from the physical aspect of cooking, the largest difference is our front-facing portion. We’ve blurred the lines between the back of the house and front of the house a bit - we spend a lot of time talking to our guests because that connection is important to us.
How are you fusing your backgrounds here?
Emily: Sarah is (obviously) Italian and I come from a Russian-Jewish family so at the core we are the same: we live to feed. We love incorporating salty little fish into our cooking - it’s something I grew up eating all the time and something that Sarah came around to later in life. In fact, every PPJ dinner starts with Raffetto’s homemade Genoa toast, butter and boquerones and in a sense, that little bite is a perfect fusion of who we both are. Both Sarah and I were extremely close with our grandmother’s and we pay homage to them as often as we can, whether that’s serving Nonna’s zucchini cake in the form of homemade ice cream for dessert, or otherwise peppering in ingredients and dishes that our grandmother’s loved to use. Each dinner is a physical representation of our mutual values: good (overflowing) food, good drinks, happiness, and family.
Sarah: I love to cook, get people to try new things, socialize and entertain, but mostly tell everyone about my family and Raffetto’s. It has always been a passion of mine to go into the business and make my mark on the company as all of the four generations have in their own ways, and this truly feels like my calling. It has undeniably been the best year of my life and I feel that I am exactly where I should be!
Where do you come up with inspiration for the menu?
Emily: Sarah and I are in constant communication, texting/DMing/emailing ideas and inspiration to each other. We have really similar tastes when it comes to food so ahead of any PPJ dinner we agree on a “vibe” (for instance, summer = bright, fresh, citrusy, seafood) and come up with ideas surrounding that theme.
Sarah: My family’s recipes that I have learned over the years, especially my dad and Nonna...they have taught me so much and inspired me to love food.
What's the best part about this? The toughest?
Sarah: The best part about this is feeling that I have not only reached a long-time goal but with the team, we have formed and the traction we’re gaining it has exceeded my expectations beyond anything I could have imagined. I am so excited to see what the future holds! The toughest part is balancing all of the work and not letting it compromise my role as the manager of Raffetto’s. Sometimes I get stressed or distracted by PPJ tasks while at my full-time day job, but as I make an effort to be less hard on myself I also truly believe that all of my efforts with PPJ are helping Raffetto’s grow as a brand.
Emily: Since we are still in our beginning stages, everything we do at PPJ comes with a huge learning curve. It’s easy to get disappointed in ourselves when something goes wrong or anxious when things aren’t perfect (and Sarah and I are ANXIETY QUEENS). We just have to keep reminding ourselves that it’s all part of the normal growth process. I remember during one of our very first dinners it was pouring down rain and guests starting arriving early, seeking respite from the storm. We were about to start dinner, but the menus weren’t on the table and as we were printing menus we discovered there wasn’t enough paper! And separately, guests had brought tons of white wine (it was summer) and we quickly realized…there was no ice! So I threw my apron off and ran to the corner store in the POURING rain to pick up bags of ice. I cooked dinner that night in a soaked t-shirt and soaked tennis shoes. We’ve never forgotten ice again. And then you have the best part of feeling like you’re building something special and doing it with people you’ve grown to really respect and care about (including you [Donna] and Mike and Jordana of Seat at the Table Hospitality). The amount of energy and excitement in the kitchen during PPJ dinners is electrifying, and when all is said and done, it’s gratifying beyond words to hear guests tell us how much they loved dinner, or how special their night was and how excited they are to tell their friends about us. It’s really magical.
What are your plans for PPJ in the future?
Sarah: I hope that we are consistently delivering monthly, publicly ticketed dinners and continue booking many private events for those who want the most unique and fun Italian dining experience. I hope to have the business, as a result, be bigger and better as a result of a mutual desire to either come to dinner after being a customer in the store or through PPJ realize that they can become regular customers and shop at the store regularly. I have a list of people I would love to cook for and hope that some of them will be crossed off my list someday!
Emily: You know, I’m not entirely sure! It’s a beautiful thing in the sense that really nothing is planned. I’d love to see PPJ flourish and I’d love to start catering parties and to not be confined to the Raffetto’s space (I mean that in the most loving way because currently, we can only use the space on Sunday and Monday nights when the shop is closed). I’d love to really focus on private events - there’s something so gratifying about designing a perfect night for someone who is celebrating something special. But there’s also the whole aspect of my other career to consider: my Instagram (@foodloversdiary) which has morphed into a whole thing of its own. My dream has always been to travel and tell the stories of food and culture as a TV host, and it’s something I focus on alongside PPJ.
The Details
Visit : Petite Pasta Joint
PPJ happens once a month - but they also do private events
Tickets are limited and sell out quick
Dietary restrictions/allergies are accommodated with advanced notice
A cocktail is included with dinner...but guests are encouraged to BYOB