Opening Alert: Sessanta Channels Coastal Italy and Retro Style in Soho

Tonight seasoned downtown restaurateur John McDonald opens his latest project with partner Stephen Eckler (former managing partner at The Red Cat and The Harrison), a Sicilian-inspired restaurant called Sessanta in the Sixty Soho. Hearth and August vet Jordon Frosolone is in charge of the kitchen here, cooking a menu influenced by the traditional cuisine of Sicily and other coastal Italian regions. The space, on the other hand, looks more like a late Mad Men era clubhouse. Breakfast and lunch should roll out sometime soon, once the team settles in.

The Menu: Frosolone's offerings start off with dishes modeled after Sicilian street food, like arancini, beef tongue sliders, and meatballs with honey. There's a section dedicated to shared dishes like Tomahawk steak with roasted herbs and buffalo milk butter, and roasted chicken with caponata. The pasta menu is short, but channels the Sicilian love for all things fishy. There's struncatura with Calabria's anchovy and pepper paste neonata, and another pasta dish of fennel tortelli with sardines, pine nuts, saffron, and golden raisins.

There are more than a dozen wines that come by the quartino, which is a small carafe of seven ounces (a typical glass of wine is five ounces). There are also a few house cocktails like the Sardinia 75 made with kiwi, kirsch, lemon and prosecco, and the tricycle thief which blends Cocchi Rossa with Cappelletti and grapefruit.

Dinner Menu