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Marc Vetri Is Opening a Pasta Bar in the Italian Market

An iconic South Philadelphia butcher shop will be reborn as Fiorella, a pasta restaurant inspired by Vetri Cucina's upstairs pop-ups.


fiorella's sausage south philly butcher marc vetri

Google Maps | Marc Vetri

Ever since Marc Vetri purchased the building that housed Italian Market mainstay Fiorella’s Sausage for more than a century back in October, we’ve been waiting to see what he’d do with the space at 817 Christian Street. Now we know: it’ll become Fiorella, a pasta restaurant inspired by the pop-ups held in the private dining space at the chef’s flagship, Vetri Cucina.

The chef-restaurateur—who’s got a lot going on right now—tells us that Fiorella will seat 12 to 14 guests in a pasta bar-style setup, and he’s changing the interior as little as possible.

Vetri also told us he’ll use the butcher shop’s beautiful antique cash register, which went missing over the weekend before it was spotted at an antique shop and returned.

An à la carte menu will offer four to six pasta dishes in addition to salads and desserts; Dan Fiorella, the fourth generation to own the erstwhile butcher shop before the sale year, will make sausage for the restaurant.

“Vetri is still my main focus,” the chef said, so he’ll hire someone to run things. There’s a liquor license for the concept in the works, too.

“It’s an homage to what was already a really amazing place,” said Vetri. “It’s gonna be a really fun spot.”

Look for Fiorella to open its doors sometime this fall.