In the upper righthand corner of the menu at Bacetti, floating just above descriptions of seasonal salads and the focaccia with olives and currants seen on nearly every table, take note of the centuries-old saying: “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” It’s been adopted as a tongue-in-cheek slogan, referring not only to the cuisine that informs the restaurant’s cooking but also the five-year odyssey that owners Jason Goldman and Christian Stayner endured to open their place.

Goldman, an art historian who comes from a line of restaurateurs, is finally heeding the call of the family business in his mid-40s. Stayner is an architect who leads a firm whose projects include a mezcaleria in San Clemente and the renovation of a 25-room hotel in Independence, Calif. The overhaul of their own project — the pair are partners in business and in life — began in 2016.