Rita Sodi

Rita Sodi is a chef originally from Tuscany: «As a child», she often recalls, «prosciutto, salami, wine and vegetables all came from the family farm in Barberino del Mugello». After studying arts, she began to work in the fashion and fabric industry, travelling from Florence to New York, Los Angeles, Asia and Australia.

In 2008, after around ten years, the turning point arrived: Rita thought none of the restaurants in the Big Apple was truly capable of offering authentic Italian cuisine. So she decided to open one of her own. This is how her adventure with I Sodi, a traditional Tuscan restaurant in the heart of the West Village in Manhattan, began. Here she started to prepare her mother’s traditional recipes. She is soon joined by chef Jody Williams of French restaurant Buvette.

In 2009 the New Yorker celebrated I Sodi as "Best of New York Eating" and more praise arrived from metropolitan press as a consequence. Five years later, in November 2014, the couple doubled opening Via Carota a few metres away, a “gastroteque” inspired by the countryside cuisine of her childhood. Some examples? Veal in tuna sauce, Cibreo, French turnips and bagnacaoda, Green tomatoes and bottarga, Burrata and strawberries. Traditional cuisine and great flavours.