Carmella's Wine Bar

Carmella's Wine Bar is a wine-focused small-plates restaurant at 3 Schoen Place in the village of Pittsford, NY. Owner Joseph Lapi, a certified sommelier who previously served as corporate wine and beverage director for RPM Restaurants within Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises in Chicago, opened the bar in August 2025. The business is named after Lapi's daughter. It occupies the former Via Girasole space, which closed in January 2024 after 15 years, and Lapi expanded the footprint by combining the former restaurant with an adjacent retail space. The interior features the building's original wooden beams and vintage pine floors, styled with brass and bronze accents.

The wine program includes 25 selections by the glass — spanning sweet to dry and light-bodied to full — plus over 300 bottles sourced from distributors and auctions, including older-vintage Bordeaux. Two nonalcoholic wines are also available. The full bar leans on classics: variations of the martini, margarita, and Old Fashioned, alongside cocktails like the Basque-style gin and tonic.

Chef Katelin Rubens runs the kitchen, turning out a tapas-style menu of shareable plates. Options include salmon rillette on an everything-bagel tart, imported burrata with tomato and aged balsamic, prime beef meatballs in Pomodoro sauce, steak tartare, pan con tomate with prosciutto di Parma, and a caviar-and-waffle plate with golden ossetra. A curated charcuterie board draws from Spanish, Italian, and New York State cured meats and cheeses. A tinned-seafood section features Spanish and Portuguese conservas such as octopus, mussels, and sardines served with baguette and olives. Lapi also hosts monthly wine classes with charcuterie pairings.

Carmella's Wine Bar is known for pairing a sommelier-curated wine list with a European-inflected tapas menu in a candlelit, intimate setting. The format — walk-ins only, no reservations, open from 4 to 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday — positions it as an after-work and late-evening destination on the Schoen Place waterfront.

Schoen Place sits along the Erie Canal in Pittsford, a walkable stretch of converted canal-era buildings that houses shops, restaurants, and services. Carmella's is steps from the canal towpath and the Schoen Place footbridge. A small parking lot is located directly across the street. The building is wheelchair accessible, with a lowered bar section and an ADA-compliant restroom.