Turney And Safran Watch: Little Nonna’s Now Officially A Thing

So we’ve been wondering for a while now what, exactly, Marcie Turney and Valerie Safran were going to do with the space-formerly-known-as-Fish at 1234 Locust Street. We knew they’d taken the address to add to their already significant 13th Street holdings. We knew that work there had already begun, and that a lot of it was focusing around the kitchen area. But what we didn’t know was what, exactly, the to of them had planned for the space.

Until now.

At some point this summer, the space will become Little Nonna’s–a straight-up red gravy neighborhood ristorante in the Italian immigrant style, heavily informed by Turney’s research into the family traditions of Italian friends and fellow chefs, and served in a 37-seat room evocative of an Italian grandmother’s living room, including lace curtains, hanging copper pots, and fake flowers but probably not a hundred cats.

The menu, obviously, is still coming together, but Turney is already thinking along the lines of oysters oreganata, grilled bread from Liscio’s with house-stretched mozzarella, stuffed artichokes, meatballs in red gravy, stuffed shells with goat’s milk ricotta in a baby tomato sauce and crabs and spaghetti. What’s more, she’s also planning on crowd-sourcing a piece of her board by having guests share their own favorite recipes via cards on each table. If she finds a good one, she’ll work it into the menu.

So what else? Well, there’s going to be patio seating. An all-Italian wine list. Negronis served in mason jars, meats and cheeses hanging in the open kitchen and an $8-$25 price range that will put Little Nonna’s right smack in the comfort zone of the average Philly diner.

No specific opening date has been given yet, but the team is saying it’ll be some time this summer. We’ll let you know more as soon as we hear it.

All Turney and Safran News [Foobooz]