USA - Workhouse Publicity announced today that it has been selected by Aroma Kitchen & Winebar as the Agency of Record for U.S. marketing and domestic publicity. Workhouse Publicity will develop an integrated promotional strategy that synchronizes communication efforts both nationally and locally. As part of a larger company initiative, Workhouse will develop creative brand messaging across all media channels to ensure consistency. The assignment is effective immediately.To schedule an Aroma tasting or an interview with owners Alexandra Degiorgio and Vito Polosa, interested media please contact Workhouse Publicity, CEO Adam Nelson directly by telephone 212. 645. 8006 or via email nelson@workhousepr.com

Aroma Kitchen & Winebar is a new Italian restaurant intent on taking guests to refreshingly new levels of Italian food and wine enjoyment. Located next to the Bowery Bar in the East Village at 36 E. 4th Street between Bowery and Lafayette, Aroma feels like a secret wine bar in Rome. From the moment Alexandra Degiorgio greets you at the door, to the first scent of wine selected by Vito Polosa, to the taste of that first bite of Chef Chris Daly's cuisine, visitors to Aroma experience an exceptional wine bar with the unexpected bonus of fine dining in a relaxed environment. It's a cozy space, yet it feels expansive. The subterranean kitchen turns out Italian cuisine with surprisingly big flavors. It’s classically trained chef prepares regional Italian food with a sharp focus on local ingredients. The wine list includes over 80 Italian wines, divided by region, including an extensive “by the glass” program. With seats comfortable enough for dining at the bar, 2 dining booths in the back and sidewalk seating, the restaurant seats 30 comfortably.

2005-2006 MENU
Inspired by New York's seasons, chef Daly's menu is influenced by a different region of Italy in Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter and reflects his understanding of healthy eating. His winter 2005 menu focuses on Tuscan dishes, emphasizing warming risotto rather than pasta. He lightens his signature dishes as the seasons change, relying on locally available produce from the Union Square Greenmarket and upstate New York, near where he grew up. This spring 2006, he'll be cooking with fresh white asparagus, bright green fava beans, spring peas and hand-harvested wild arugula and braising greens. The menu moves further south in Italy as the weather in New York heats up. Summer will also bring Sicilian and Sardinian flavors: spicy green olive oil, eggplant, tomato. "You won't see tomatoes on the pasta in winter at Aroma. We wait until they are coming from Long Island or New Jersey," says Daly. This summer, he'll be cooking with heirloom Italian tomatoes from the Hudson Valley and tristar strawberries with 100-year-old Balsamic vinegar. Daly's cooking relies on beautifully balanced flavors, sweet, savory, spicy when you least expect it, and wonderful textures, crunchy balanced with smooth and rich. For example, the appetizer baked calamari, stuffed with a surprising mixture of almond, shrimp and parsley. The fresh pastas are made in house. They include black pepper straccetti with a ragu of meaty wild mushrooms and gratin of gnocchi with swiss chard, fontina and nutmeg béchamel. Signature entrees include: braised duck salad with baby frisee, poached egg, pancetta and walnut oil, double lamb with mustard caponata and 28-year old balsamic vinegar and monkfish with sardinian fregola paella in lobster broth. All desserts are made in house as well, and include house made pomegranate sorbet with florentine cookies and white chocolate, signature new york style cheesecake, with poached dried fruits, brandied cherries and hot fudge sauce and a decadent chocolate mocha cake with walnut and peanut butter pesto. Vito is also available to suggest the appropriate dessert wines to match.

WINEMAKER DINNER
Paolo Monti offers an intimate evening of great wine and an exquisite four course fall menu prepared by executive chef Christopher Daly. Join us for this special winemaker dinner to take place on Wednesday, November 9th at 7pm at Aroma’s new private chef’s dining room. Seating is limited and 16 seats are now available by reservation only, call 212-375-0100. Price: $85.00 per person, plus tax and service.

DELIVERY
More than anything, the Aroma team wants their guests to be comfortable. So for those times when there's no place like home, they've devised a separate menu especially for delivery—Aroma in Your Home. This menu includes only those items that travel well: soups such as canellini bean soup with Tivoli braising greens and sweet sausage, the "aroma" Caesar salad with lemon and anchovy, panini such as prosciutto, fig jam, basil and mascarpone, and spiedini, the Italian version of brochette, skewered meats including garlic marinated chicken with spiced white bean sauce. Many of these special delivery items are available as a perfect late night bite to accompany a glass of wine at the bar. To arrange delivery please call 212-375-0100

ATMOSPHERE
Aroma is a study in contrasts: The urban/rustic interior features exposed brick, a dark wood bar with natural edges juxtaposed with mirrors framed with brushed steel. The room is softly lit by both contemporary chandeliers and flickering candles. Aroma doesn't have a fancy cellar, but even the red wines are served at just the right temperature (slightly cool, not warm). Brought together by their shared passion for food, wine and entertaining, owners Degiorgio and Polosa are both as active behind the scenes as they are in front of the house. Alexandra, a native of Malta, was formerly a consultant for American Management Systems (AMS), an international information technology firm. Vito, from Potenza, Italy (just South of Naples) has extensive experience in service as waiter, head waiter or manager at such NYC restaurants as Fiamma, Da Silvano, Bice and Il Gattopardo. Most recently, he was a wine salesman for Winebow, one of New York's largest wine and liquor distributors. The team brings passionate, focused intensity to the art of relaxing hospitality. They plan to share their enthusiasm with wine tastings, directed pairings and other educational programs. Polosa and Degiorgio found their perfect counterpart and match in executive chef Christopher Daly. Trained at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA), Daly has bicoastal experience. His CIA externship was in the kitchen of Jean-Francois Mettingmer at L'Orangerie in Los Angeles, he was chef de partie for Thomas Keller at Checkers in LA, and taught at the Los Angeles International Culinary Institute alongside world-renowned classic cooking expert, Raymond Hoffmeister. In New York, he was executive chef at West Broadway Restaurant Gallery Bar in Soho, The Edwardian Room at the Plaza Hotel, and co-created the progressive American restaurant, Bellew. In 2000, Daly founded HIP4Kids, Hospitality Industry Professionals for Kids (www.hip4kids.org), a New-York based non-profit initiative to spotlight his concern for obesity in children and to teach kids good eating habits in a fun way.

HOURS
Aroma is also open for Brunch, Saturday and Sunday from noon to 3:30 PM. Italian variations on the standards take brunch to the next level: Polenta waffles with Amaretto syrup and crispy pancetta; wild boar bacon BLT with olive oil potato chips and desserts such as Nutella brioche and Arborio rice pudding with poached fruits as well as aperitifs such as tangerine mimosa, and white peach bellini. Aroma is open for dinner Tuesday-Thursday, 6 PM – 12 AM, Friday-Saturday 6 PM-2 AM Brunch Saturday-Sunday from noon to 3:30 PM. Aroma is located at 36 E. 4th Street between Bowery and Lafayette. For more information call 212-375-0100.

WORKHOUSE PUBLICITY
Instituted in 1996, Workhouse Publicity has produced over one hundred domestic and international publicity campaigns. The new definition of a full-service promotional firm, Workhouse specializes in the coordination of corporate and celebrity publicity, total design, luxury marketing and special events. Worldwide client campaigns have included promotional initiatives for Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, Tim Burton, Debbie Harry, David LaChapelle and Lennox Lewis. Corporate retainer clients include Assouline, Borrelli, Bennihana, ContentFilm, Carl F. Bucherer, Chocolate Bar, IFC Films, Metropolitan Pavilion, Rubin Museum of Art, WGA East to name a few. Recent accomplishments include launch events at Versace, Harry Winston, Van Cleef & Arpels, Gracie Mansion, Harlem’s legendary Apollo Theater, Carnegie Hall. Client campaigns include Ultimate Style: The Best of The Best Dressed List at Gotham Hall, Dolce & Gabanna’s Hollywood at Bergdorf Goodman with Jennifer Lopez, Gucci’s so8o’s boutique launch, Francis Ford Coppola’s Festa Macaroni, Interview Magazine’s 30th Anniversary, Virgin Megastore's Grand Opening and Galleries Lafayette’s 20th Anniversary in France as well as bi-coastal productions of the 24 Hour Plays to benefit the NY State WTC Relief Fund with Philip SeymourHoffman, Rosie Perez, Benjamin Bratt, Julianne Moore and more. Workhouse Publicity is a one-stop agency accommodating all aspects of publicity, design and promotion for the creation of marketing, advertising and special events.