For more than a century, New York has been the canvas for Italian culinary dreams. From the red-sauce trattorias of Mulberry Street to the modern pasta bars of the West Village, generations of immigrants have arrived with little more than recipes and ambition — determined to serve the flavors of home while adapting to the rhythms of a new world. But in a city where Italian food is everywhere, authenticity is often more promised than practiced.

That tension — between nostalgia and novelty, between heritage and hospitality — is where Francesco Realmuto has built his name. A Sicilian-born food entrepreneur with nearly 20 years in the industry, Francesco has returned to the core of his culinary identity through two distinctive Manhattan concepts: Realmuto, an alta pasticceria italiana that offers a refined tour through Italy’s regional desserts, and Ficuzza, a rustic-modern trattoria and pizzeria  grounded in the bold, soulful traditions of Sicilian home cooking.