After decades of training everywhere from Switzerland to Venice, the Harvard Club, the Four Seasons, and the Boat House restaurant, chef Fred Mero decided, at long last, to start his own restaurant. He got in touch with his friend, Vincenzo Roberto, who was planning on retiring from the industry after years of running restaurants, and convinced him to do this “one last job.” Yes, there are several outstanding places to dine on West 14th Street, but after the meal that our Manhattan Sideways team experienced, we believe there is definitely room for one more. The menu is not incredibly wide-reaching, but deliberately so, instead electing to focus on doing a few things very well. We can personally attest to the scrumptiousness of the linguine with clam sauce and baked tofu marinara. The dish that really stole the day, however, was the zucchini manicotti - stuffed with a puree of walnuts, pine nuts, sunflower seeds and ricotta - created by sous chef Jamie, who was trying to wow his vegetarian wife when he created it. In addition to the delicious meal that we ate sitting at a table in the back, La Rosetta has a unique sixty-foot raw bar that greets customers when entering. Oysters are not the only items on center stage here, as they also carve meat and have a number of wines on tap. Mero explained to us that this feature can be traced to his time in Europe: “The Spanish style of serving people has been ingrained in me - you don’t hide anything, you show people what you’re making them.” The wine is from all over the world, poured generously and offered inexpensively during weekday happy hours. And for those who really want to indulge, there is an “unlimited champagne package” available to get the party started and a "powerful" martini list. When we felt that we had indulged ourselves more than enough in the middle of the afternoon, and were ready to say our good-byes, three amazing desserts were placed in front of us. We marveled at the excellent bread pudding, the rich chocolate ganache, and a perfect cheese cake. Needless to say, we had no problem scraping each of the plates clean. Mero has clearly put in his time building his resume, and now he is ready to show New Yorkers what he can do.