Sarah Raffetto always knew she’d end up in the family business. Raffetto’s, the longstanding pasta shop in Greenwich Village, was founded by her great-grandfather, Marcello Raffetto, in 1906. Her father, Andrew Raffetto, never pushed her toward it, but she couldn’t resist.
“I had my moments of wanting to do other things for sure, like anybody would,” she said. But ultimately, “it seemed silly to squander an opportunity.”
As chief operating officer, Ms. Raffetto, 35, works on the retail side of the company. Sometimes that means cutting fresh pasta behind the counter; other times, it means developing recipes for products sold in the shop. On Instagram, she refers to herself as the “Pasta Heiress.”
Part of her job has also been bringing the 119-year-old shop into the present. That started with Petite Pasta Joint, a pop-up and private events company she runs with her friend, Emily Fedner, and has since morphed into other partnerships, like Midnight Spaghetti, a weekend pop-up at Suprema Provisions in the West Village. Even so, retail remains her first love. “I love talking with customers and I love making recommended pairings, especially for people who have never come into the business before,” she said.
This summer, Ms. Raffetto moved into the two-bedroom apartment above the store that once belonged to her grandmother, Romana Raffetto. She had lived in the building with her father as a child and later shared the apartment with her grandmother while in college.
“We would binge-watch ‘Law & Order,’ go thrift-shopping and eat at local spots all the time,” she said. “We had a really nice thing going.” Now, she lives there with her boyfriend, Ben Herbst, co-founder of Sweetspot, a cannabis dispensary, and their pets: a French bulldog named Theo and a cat named Remy.
Ms. Raffetto recently spent a Friday with The New York Times as she got ready for a pasta pop-up event.
This interview has been condensed and lightly edited.
TAKE A SPIN I used to be a big ClassPass fan, but ever since Covid I started working out at home. It just became the better option. I usually do a Peloton workout, either on the bike or the strength training classes.
COFFEE TO GO Sometimes I make my own espresso, but I like to go to Porto Rico Importing Co. for a good classic drip coffee. I love that they have various strengths for drip, and it’s so delicious, really strong, and the best deal in town. They’re only a year younger than Raffetto’s, from 1907, and I use some of their products downstairs too for different ice creams.
PRE-CHECK I head back to Raffetto’s and manage the list of tasks for both Raffetto’s-related things and Petite Pasta Joint things. If I’ve made focaccia dough the night before, I have to do the second phase in the morning. We ship with Goldbelly, so I print out a list of all the products we have to send to the factory for them to assemble the packaging of. We make the sauces and prepared meals at the store, while the factory produces the pasta itself, so they need some of the items from the store to be sent there.
MIXED BAG Then, the day varies between food prep for Petite Pasta Joint or Raffetto’s, whether it’s making pistachio tiramisù or panna cotta. I’m big into desserts at the store. Working at Raffetto’s varies; sometimes it’s answering the phones, serving customers and going through inventory. There’s a lot that happens in a day.
ANTI-PASTA On a Petite Pasta Joint day, I love to get anything that’s the antithesis of pasta, because I know we might nibble on that later. I’ll run to lunch at either Top Thai on Carmine Street or Berlin Döner on MacDougal Street just to eat something that isn’t Italian. I love places that allow you to call it in and pay with cash because you get a little bit of a break on fees, and it’s just nice to get out for a minute. We don’t have a huge space in the shop, so many times we’ll just sit on whatever chair or stool is available and get back to it.
TRANSFORMATION After the shop closes, we immediately start to move the cash registers and scales off the counter and get out the table. We put height blocks to level the table and wrap it in butcher paper rather than tablecloths because the tablecloths would just get so messy and they were hard to clean without proper linen service. We use string lights instead of the fluorescent ceiling lighting, and it’s very vibe-y and romantic and cute.
GROUP SHOT Sometimes there’s a pre-service tequila shot, especially before a big event. We can’t drink during shift, of course, because that would not bode well for anybody. But sometimes a little shot just to loosen the nerves is a good time and helps.
SHOWTIME Dinner goes on for about three hours, five to seven courses. We try to read the room and give people the experience that they would enjoy the most. It never ceases to amaze me how much the events vary. Most of the time people are really excited to be there and excited to eat, but then there are other moments where they’re here for something for business, and they may not be as hungry or excited about the food. If there are leftovers — my business partner is Jewish and I’m Italian, so we love to feed people — we try not to take it personally if they don’t eat everything, because it’s a lot of food.
BREAKDOWN We chat with guests on their way out, and then breaking down the event tends to be some of the most fun that we have all night. We’ll blast music to amp ourselves up since we’re pretty exhausted physically and mentally. We love scream-singing, whether it’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” or Olivia Rodrigo. Anything you can just belt and really feel all the feelings is definitely the most fun.
BUONA NOTTE I’m exhausted after one of these events, so I head upstairs and hang out with my boyfriend, Ben. I’ll often have one of his gummies; they help me get a nice, restful sleep.
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