Ci Siamo

Inside Manhattan West: How Ci Siamo Fits the Modern Italian Moment in New York

The approach to Ci Siamo, through the mid-block arcade of the Manhattan West development on West 33rd Street, tells you something before you reach the door. That context matters, because the Italian casual tier in New York now runs in several directions at once: the old-school neighbourhood joint, the downtown natural-wine-and-wood-fired counter, and the polished, high-volume room backed by a serious operator.

The room delivers the signals that Union Square Hospitality Group has refined over decades: a handsome bar, open kitchen, substantial tilework, and large windows that let the space read as active from the street. It is a legible, well-calibrated environment, less about surprise than about executing a familiar idiom at a high level. For diners who have spent time at other USHG properties, the aesthetic vocabulary will be recognizable. That familiarity is not a weakness; it reflects a group that has learned, across a long track record, which physical cues produce the kind of room where people want to stay.

Chef Hillary Sterling and the Case for Wood-Fire Italian Cooking

Italian cooking in the United States has spent the past decade pulling in two directions: toward the hyper-regional and ingredient-focused, and toward the theatrical, fire-driven technique borrowed as much from Argentine and Spanish wood-fire traditions as from any specific Italian region. Chef Hillary Sterling's approach at Ci Siamo sits in the second current without abandoning the first. The wood-burning oven anchors the menu conceptually and practically, showing up not just in proteins but in preparations, the caramelized onion torta, finished in that oven, is the dish that appears most consistently in serious critical assessments of the restaurant. The caramelized onion torta, with melting onions packed into a delicate crust and finished under two kinds of pecorino, is distinctive.

That kind of single-dish case for revisiting a restaurant is a reasonable editorial benchmark. In a city where Italian options range from Via Carota's market-driven West Village rusticity to the formal register of Ai Fiori and the confident downtown warmth of Altro Paradiso, the venues that earn repeat bookings tend to be the ones with a handful of dishes that become personal reference points. Sterling's menu is structured around exactly that logic: generously built pastas and sharing-format proteins that encourage a tableful of people to order widely, anchored by a few preparations that are difficult to replicate at home and harder to find elsewhere.

The lemon torta with mascarpone and olive oil is another data point in this picture. Desserts at Italian-American casual restaurants tend to function as afterthoughts; a dessert that appears in a senior food criticism platform's review notes is a meaningful signal about kitchen discipline extending to the end of the meal.

The Wine Program: Piedmont, Tuscany, and 700 Selections

Italian restaurant wine programs in New York operate across a wide range of seriousness. Many casual Italian rooms carry a functional list with geographic breadth but limited depth; a smaller cohort builds lists that can genuinely engage a wine-focused diner across multiple visits. Ci Siamo's program falls into the second group. Seven hundred selections with an inventory of approximately 7,950 bottles represents a meaningful commitment for a casual-tier restaurant, and the declared strengths in Piedmont and Tuscany align the program with Italy's most serious wine regions rather than breadth-for-breadth's-sake geographic coverage.

OAD Rankings and What They Signal

Opinionated About Dining has tracked the restaurant's trajectory since its opening. The progression, #108 in 2023, #73 in 2024, #39 in 2025, shows steady upward movement. OAD rankings weight repeat visits heavily, which means a rising rank is often a proxy for the kind of repeat-visitor loyalty that defines durable restaurants rather than opening-year hype. At #39 in the casual North America list for 2025, the restaurant sits in a competitive tier alongside a range of serious regional Italian rooms across the country.

8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo Bombana in Hong Kong operates at the formal end of the spectrum, while cenci in Kyoto represents a Japan-filtered take on Italian technique. The Manhattan West version is neither of those things, it is Italian cooking made for a New York pace and appetite, which means generous portions, a room that can absorb volume, and a wine program deep enough to satisfy the serious diner without requiring a tasting-menu commitment.

Where Ci Siamo Sits in the Broader New York Italian Scene

New York's Italian dining spectrum runs from walk-in neighbourhood rooms to destination tasting counters, with a broad middle tier of polished casual restaurants that serve lunch and dinner and can absorb both business meals and weekend social dining. The restaurant occupies that middle tier at the upper end, not because of price positioning (the cuisine is priced at about $80 per person), but because of the depth of the wine program, the consistency of the kitchen, and the operational expertise behind the room.

Peers worth comparing: Babbo has been operating in the West Village since 1998 and represents the older generation of serious New York Italian; Ammazzacaffè occupies a different register within the contemporary scene. Each reflects a distinct moment in the city's relationship with Italian food. The restaurant's position inside a new development complex at the edge of Hudson Yards places it in a different geographic conversation than its Greenwich Village counterparts, one that is still being written as the neighbourhood around it matures.

Emeril's in New Orleans represents an older iteration of the restaurateur-backed casual model, while Lazy Bear in San Francisco, Alinea in Chicago, Single Thread Farm in Healdsburg, The French Laundry in Napa, and Providence in Los Angeles show how different markets have approached the challenge of building a durable, recognized room.

Planning Your Visit