Snagging a reservation at Carbone, the ever in-demand Italian American red-sauce joint that opened in SoHo in 2013, is so difficult that even A-listers frequently can’t get a table. Even with seven locations around the globe—and two upcoming in London and Dubai—there’s still a finite supply of tables to go around. Luckily, and maybe inevitably, the buying public can now bring the magic home with Carbone Fine Food, a line of 21 jarred sauces, including Spicy Vodka, the sauce used in Spicy Rigatoni Vodka, the restaurant’s signature dish.
“We realized that the brand had gotten to a level of recognition and we were only able to feed so many people in the restaurants, [so] a way for us to reach people across the country would be to give them a little bit of the restaurant at home,” Mario Carbone, the eatery’s namesake and the managing partner of its parent, Major Food Group, told Vanity Fair on Monday night. Carbone was at another of Major Food Group’s marquee restaurants, The Pool, for a Power Party given by Carbone Fine Food and Vanity Fair to celebrate power diners. The venue paired excellently with the theme. The modernist gem designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Philip Johnson inside the Seagram Building was where the term power lunch was coined in 1979, when the venue was the iconic Four Seasons Restaurant. Guests were instructed to wear red in homage to the sauce.
Alongside Carbone Fine Food CEO Eric Skae, Major Food Group’s three managing partners—Carbone, Rich Torrisi, and Jeff Zalaznick—welcomed attendees including Tom Francis, who earned a Tony nomination for Sunset Blvd., jewelry designer Meredith Marks of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, content creator Haley Kalil, Tony winner Adrienne Warren, and The Bachelorette’s Tayshia Adams.
Tuxedoed servers dished out Carbone’s famed dishes from the buffet, including the Spicy Rigatoni Vodka, Caesar alla ZZ, and Mario’s Meatballs, while waiters passed around crab cakes and truffle arancini as guests sipped espresso martinis and Grill Sours.
Carbone said he believes that jarred sauces only add to the brand’s cachet. “If they really like the product, then maybe they’ll make the pilgrimage somewhere to the restaurant someday,” he said.
And the best way to recreate the Carbone experience at home? Use Carbone’s Spotify Supper curated playlist as the evening’s soundtrack. “I would get some candles, I would play some Sinatra, and I would wine and dine either your family, your kids, your loved ones—make a Carbone night out of it,” Carbone suggested.
Model Lexi Wood revealed her favorite way to prepare a dish with Carbone Fine Food’s Marinara: “You have to get some fresh Parmesan cheese in there. I always love to add a little basil leaf on top for fanciness. I always do a penne noodle, get the sauce all up in there. It’s so delicious and so easy. You have Carbone in your house.”
Gracie Lawrence, the Sex Lives of College Girls actor and singer who received a Tony nomination for playing Connie Francis in the musical Just in Time, was with her brother Clyde Lawrence. “We’re native New Yorkers, so [Carbone] is an institution, and we’re excited to be here,” said Gracie, who revealed that she’s touring with her brother as the band Lawrence this October.
Ashe, the singer-songwriter who recently formed the band the Favors with producer Finneas (also known as Billie Eilish’s brother), performed a handful of songs for the crowd while dressed in a periwinkle sequined dress. She sang a rendition of Natasha Bedingfield’s 2004 hit “Unwritten,” telling the audience, “I’m just doing the whole chorus until you sing along.” They joined in, and she added a special treat, a preview of the Favors’ upcoming single about being heartbroken in New York.
“Finneas and I started a band, and next Friday, we have a new song out,” Ashe said. “This is an interesting setting to do it, but I would love to play you the totally unreleased song. I feel like I can trust you guys, right?” The singer belted out the lyrics, “The only truth I know is you…”
The night closed down with waiters passing out Carbone desserts, like the lemon cheesecake and the Italian rainbow cookies that are usually given with the bill.
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