About Via Carota
Jody Williams and Rita Sodi are both self-taught, and they cook at 51 Grove Street the way they eat at home in the West Village: an Italian gastroteca with no reservations, no tasting menu and no event-restaurant theatre. The two are partners in life and in a small empire on the same blocks — I Sodi, Buvette, Bar Pisellino — and in 2019 they won the James Beard Award for Best Chefs: New York City. Via Carota is the busiest room of the lot, which is why there is always a line down Grove Street. It is the rare destination restaurant that behaves like a neighbourhood one.
The Kitchen
The dish that explains the kitchen is the svizzerina, $28 — a chopped steak, but chopped by hand with a knife rather than run through a grinder, which keeps the texture loose and the interior nearly tartare. It is pressed into a loose patty, seared hard so a salty crust forms, and served so the centre stays cool and rare; ground beef cannot do this, because grinding compacts the meat and renders that contrast impossible. The other signature is the insalata verde, the green salad Samin Nosrat called the best in the world — the whole trick is in the dressing, an acid-to-oil balance that coats every leaf without wilting it, and in salting at the last second. Then there are the contorni, the day's vegetables cooked precisely and seasoned with restraint, which are where Williams and Sodi quietly show their hand. Plates run roughly $75 to $125 a head with a pasta such as the cacio e pepe and a glass of Italian wine. This is technique disguised as simplicity.
The Room
A small, warm trattoria with rustic wood, a marble bar and tightly packed tables that fill the moment the doors open. The noise is a steady hum, the light is soft, and the energy comes from the crowd and the open kitchen rather than from any design statement. There is no reservation system, so the room runs on the queue and the bar. Dress is smart-casual — this is the West Village, not Midtown. The bar seats are the prize for anyone eating alone.
Best for Solo Dining
Eat alone at the bar for solo dining done right: the svizzerina, a contorno, a glass of Italian wine, and a kitchen in front of you working. Because there are no reservations, a single seat at the bar usually opens faster than a table for two, so the no-reservations policy that frustrates couples works in your favour. It is the kind of room where eating by yourself feels normal rather than conspicuous.
Not For
Skip it if you need a guaranteed table on a schedule — there are no reservations, the wait at peak hours runs well over an hour, and the tables are packed tight, so a quiet, planned business dinner will be a struggle here.
Frequently Asked
Is Via Carota worth the wait?
Yes. Jody Williams and Rita Sodi cook some of the most precise vegetable-forward Italian food in New York, and the no-reservations queue is the price of admission. The svizzerina and the green salad alone justify it. Go early, put your name down, and have a drink at Bar Pisellino across the street while you wait.
What should you order at Via Carota?
The svizzerina ($28), a hand-chopped grassfed steak seared to a salty crust over a near-tartare centre, and the insalata verde, the green salad Samin Nosrat called the best in the world. Add a contorno or two of the day's vegetables and a pasta such as the cacio e pepe. The vegetables are where the kitchen shows off.
Does Via Carota take reservations?
No. Via Carota is walk-in only at 51 Grove Street in the West Village, and the wait at peak hours can run well over an hour. Arrive at opening or in the mid-afternoon lull, leave a phone number, and they will text you. Solo diners can often slip onto the bar faster than a couple waiting for a table.
Who are the chefs behind Via Carota?
Jody Williams and Rita Sodi, two self-taught chefs and partners who also run I Sodi, Buvette and Bar Pisellino in the same West Village neighbourhood. They won the James Beard Award for Best Chefs: New York City in 2019, and Via Carota is the most popular room in their group.
Also in New York City
Explore the full New York City restaurant guide, or compare other West Village rooms. See our Solo Dining, First Date, and Birthday guides for more New York picks.