What Is Antipasto? The Meaning, and How NYC Menus Use It
By Nico Ferraro · October 7, 2026 · 7 min read
Antipasto (plural antipasti) means “before the meal”: it is the opening course of an Italian dinner, a set of small plates such as cured meats, cheese, vegetables, fried bites or raw fish, served before the pasta. On Manhattan menus the section takes very different shapes, from Rezdôra’s Emilian cured-meat board with tigelle at $38 to Babbo, which prints its cooked starters under the heading “Apericena.” Menu headings, dishes and prices below were read from each restaurant’s own site on October 7, 2026.
What does antipasto mean?
The word breaks into anti, “before,” and pasto, “meal.” It has nothing to do with pasta, which is the most common misreading. The plural, antipasti, is what you will see as a menu heading, because the course is usually several small things rather than one.
In the traditional Italian sequence the antipasto opens the meal, followed by the primo (pasta, risotto or soup), the secondo (meat or fish) with its contorni, and the dolce. Its job is to start the appetite, not to satisfy it, which is why the portions are small and the flavors are salty, sharp or rich in small doses: salumi, a young cheese, marinated or grilled vegetables, olives, bruschetta, something fried, a crudo.
In Italian-American restaurants the word often means one specific thing, an antipasto platter of cured meats, cheeses and marinated vegetables. That platter is a real dish, but it is one version of a course that on a regional Italian menu can run to a dozen plates.
Antipasto, appetizer, aperitivo: what is the difference?
Antipasto vs appetizer. The English word is the closest translation, and on most menus the two do the same job. The difference is mostly in how they are ordered: antipasti are commonly shared across the table, and on a long Italian menu the section can be as large as the pasta list.
Antipasto vs aperitivo. Aperitivo is a drink-led ritual before dinner, usually at a bar, with small salty bites to make you hungry. Antipasto is the first course of the dinner itself, at the table. The full distinction is in aperitivo vs happy hour.
Antipasto vs primo. The primo is the pasta, risotto or soup course that follows. It is warmer and more substantial, and it is not a starter, which is covered in what the primi course means.
How NYC menus print the antipasti section
| Restaurant | Address | Best for | Key verified detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rezdôra | 27 East 20th Street | Emilian cured meats and cheese | Antipasti split into “Caseificio” and “Della Zona”; affettati misti with tigelle, $38 |
| Via Carota | 51 Grove Street | Walk-in grazing | Separate Spuntini ($17), Bruschetta ($18) and Antipasti ($18–$28) sections |
| L’Artusi | 228 West 10th Street | Crudo before cooked starters | Crudo ($27–$28) printed ahead of Antipasti ($20–$32) |
| Babbo | 110 Waverly Place | A long, mixed starter list | Crudi, Insalate and “Apericena” ($12–$32) |
| Scarpetta | 88 Madison Avenue | Seafood-forward starters | Starters printed under “Primi” ($25–$35), pastas under “Paste” |
| Bacaro | 136 Division Street | A late table of shared plates | One “Antipasto” section of eleven plates, $14–$32; open until midnight, Tuesday to Sunday |
Rezdôra: the regional version
Rezdôra divides its antipasti in two. “Caseificio,” the dairy, holds a burrata with 24-month prosciutto di Parma at $28, a burrata Reale with maitake and black truffle at $32, and stracciatella with tomatoes and stone fruit at $24, with fett’unta at $10 listed as “a perfect accompaniment to caseificio.” “Della Zona,” from the area, is the Emilian half: gnocco fritto with prosciutto di Parma, mortadella and guanciale at $18, an affettati misti at $38 that brings capocollo, pesto Modenese, squacquerone, Parmigiano and tigelle, and a Parmigiano Reggiano tasting at $26 described as “a journey through 5 ages of Parmigiano.” That is an antipasti section that tells you exactly which region the kitchen is cooking from.
Via Carota: three sections before the pasta
Via Carota splits the opening of the meal into three headings. Spuntini, or snacks, are fried green olives stuffed with pork sausage and 'nduja arancini, both $17. Bruschetta are two toasts at $18, one with cultured butter and salted anchovies, one with pear, gorgonzola and walnuts. Antipasti proper run $18 to $28: an orange, olive and onion salad, burrata with wilted bitter greens, 24-month prosciutto with Parmigiano, ribollita, bagna cauda with crudités, and chopped chicken livers with lemon. The site says walk-ins are welcome, and the restaurant is open daily until 11pm, which makes this the easiest room on the list to build a meal entirely out of starters.
L’Artusi: crudo first
L’Artusi puts raw fish in its own section, Crudo, ahead of the Antipasti: fluke at $27, a wagyu carpaccio at $28, tuna at $27. The cooked antipasti follow at $20 to $32, among them roasted beets with endive and pomegranate, a stracciatella crostone with squash caponata, roasted mushrooms with pancetta and a fried egg, and octopus alla piastra with saffron fregola. Two headings for one course is a useful reminder that crudo counts as antipasto even when the menu files it separately.
Babbo: the word is Apericena
Babbo opens with Crudi and Insalate, then a section called “Apericena” — tomato bruschetta and chicken liver crostini at $12 each, red kuri squash with robiola at $25, burrata with prosciutto and figs at $27, grilled octopus at $32. Apericena is normally the Milanese name for an aperitivo substantial enough to become supper, so using it for the starters is a playful choice. The tasting menu is more literal: its antipasti line reads “Choose one per guest.”
Scarpetta: starters called Primi
Scarpetta prints Crudi first, then a section headed “Primi” that holds its cooked starters — seared scallops at $35, charred octopus at $32, braised short rib with farro risotto at $29, burrata at $25 — and only then the pastas, under “Paste.” In the traditional sequence those starters would be antipasti and the pastas would be the primi. It is a good example of why the heading matters less than the position on the page.
Bacaro: one long list, open late
Bacaro, on Division Street, keeps one long “Antipasto” section: a meat and cheese plate with fig jam and grapes at $32, burrata at $20, prosciutto and melon at $22, rice balls at $14, fried zucchini blossoms stuffed with ricotta at $17, meatballs at $17, fritto misto at $21 and mussels at $26. It is open from 5pm to midnight Tuesday through Sunday and closed Monday, and its site notes that gratuity is included for groups of six or more.
How to order antipasti without ruining the meal
One per person is the baseline. Babbo’s tasting menu sets the rule in four words: choose one per guest. If pasta and a main are coming, that is enough.
Share a board instead of ordering one each. A single cured-meat plate, such as Rezdôra’s $38 affettati misti or Bacaro’s $32 meat and cheese plate, covers the cured-meat side of the course for a table, and leaves room to add one vegetable or seafood plate.
Read the position, not the heading. Whether a menu says Antipasti, Spuntini, Apericena or even Primi, the plates at the top of the page before the pasta are the antipasto course.
Make antipasti the meal on purpose. Via Carota’s three starter sections and walk-in policy, or Bacaro’s eleven-plate list and midnight close, suit a table that wants to graze rather than move through courses. For more on building a whole table out of starters, there is a fuller guide to ordering a table of antipasti.
Dish lists and prices change with the season, so check each restaurant’s current menu before you go. If the vegetable plates on a menu confuse you, what contorni are explains the section at the other end of the meal.
Frequently asked questions
What does antipasto mean in Italian?
Antipasto means “before the meal,” from anti (before) and pasto (meal); it has nothing to do with pasta. It is the opening course of a traditional Italian dinner, and the plural, antipasti, is the usual menu heading for that section.
What is the difference between antipasto and an appetizer?
They do the same job, opening the meal with small plates. The difference is in how they are ordered: antipasti are commonly shared across the table, and on a long Italian menu the section can be split into several headings, such as Via Carota’s Spuntini, Bruschetta and Antipasti.
How many antipasti should you order?
One per person is enough if pasta and a main course are coming, which is the rule Babbo’s tasting menu prints as “Choose one per guest.” For a group, a single shared board such as Rezdôra’s $38 affettati misti covers the cured meats, and one vegetable or seafood plate rounds it out.
