 |
| Philadelphia Restaurants Ulivo and Spitalieri's Closing |
Two Italian BYOBs in the Queen Village / South Street area of Philadelphia will close on March 28: one a longtime favorite, Ulivo, opened in November 2011; the other, Spitalieri's, a fairly recent addition to the block that we initially covered right before they opened in April 2014.
Ulivo is a triangular corner building at 521 Catharine Street in Queen Village, a high copper-ceilinged room that was once one of Philly's best dive bars, the Pom Pom Lounge. A little under four years ago, owner and chef Joe Scarpone made Ulivo into a nouvelle, handmade pasta palace with his ever-present ricotta gnocchi which was to die for, and different nightly takes on pappardelle and orecchiette dishes.
When we met the Spitalieri's crew and its matriarch Joanna Spitalieri at 613 East Passyunk Avenue right off of South Street, they were preparing to be filmed by the Food Network. Ms. Spitalieri was confident in front of the camera and in her old world, Southern Italian, red-gravy based recipes for traditional meatball, chicken and pasta dishes.
Both restaurants will be missed.
Photo ©Reese Amorosi / Glamorosi 2014
Posted on Thursday, March 27, 2015
