Fabio Trabocchi in New York City

[ScotteeM]

A "Marche" version of Central from Fabio would be incredible! Right price point, unique cuisine and, if done in Fairfax county, in a relative wasteland where it would be appreciated and popular. I only hope there is a chance this could happen.

Joe do you honestly think that it would be appreciated in Fairfax County? The food from the Marche does not typically come to mind as Italian to the general population.

Personally I think a lower price point restaurant would be a great way to expose folks to some interesting cooking.

I've lived in Fairfax County for almost 30 years, and this area does not have a good track record in supporting really good innovative restaurants, outside of Tyson's Corner. And yet folks are more than willing to wait in line for a seat in one of the ubiquitous mediocre chains. So I'm a little skeptical about Fabio succeeding in Fairfax County, much as I'd love to have him that close! Arlington (along the Metro) or Alexandria (Old Town or Del Ray) might provide a more faithful clientele.

If the stars align, I will be one of the first in line to hail his return to our part of the world!

[Joe H]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/restaurants/3334213/Are-you-ready-to-order-This-week-Italian-special---Uliassi-Senigallia.html is a good introduction to the restaurants of the Marche region which include the two star Uliassi which sits literally on a beach as well as the three Michelin star La Madonna Del Pescatore another higher end temple to extraordinary seafood which is virutally unknown in the U. S. I wrote this on Chowhound about a "blue collar" joint (unknown by tourists) that was Mecca for locals; extraordinarily fresh and imaginatively prepared seafood all in a run down bunker of a building with formica tables straddling huge fish tanks sporting lobsters, prawns, and a host of shellfish I'd only seen in picture books before. Many of them when served were absolutely delicisious even though I had no idea what name the Italians may have given them http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/328474

There is much that Americans, Washingtonians in particular, do not know about Marche where Fabio is from. Extraordinary food, exquisitely, uniquely delicious with new flavors and experiences. A fish stew, Brodetto all Anconetana, that blows away almost any bouillibasse and includes 13 fish idealy all caught that day! Scorpion fish risotto, "Drunken" Tuna Marchigiana-Style (where tuna is seared in lard with anchovies and marsala, potato gnocchi with duck ragu. Above Uliassi is mentioned by me: simply one of the great restaurant in Italy, in all of Europe. An enchanting setting, you sit literally on the beach with water lapping near your feet while you are served.

For myself if Fabio can recapture the incredible flavors that we found in Marche and is able to source some of its wine (i.e. Kurni "If Romano Dal Forno made wine in Marche" WS), this is a lower price point than Maestro, perhaps more in common with Central or 2941. There is a huge market for this. It will work. I believe it will be huge here!

I hope he finds a room for it. I believe this would be the most exciting restaurant to open in the D. C. area in years: Fabio, cooking his first love, what he grew up with.

I'd be first in line.

[FunnyJohn]

I've lived in Fairfax County for almost 30 years, and this area does not have a good track record in supporting really good innovative restaurants, outside of Tyson's Corner. And yet folks are more than willing to wait in line for a seat in one of the ubiquitous mediocre chains. So I'm a little skeptical about Fabio succeeding in Fairfax County, much as I'd love to have him that close! Arlington (along the Metro) or Alexandria (Old Town or Del Ray) might provide a more faithful clientele.

If the stars align, I will be one of the first in line to hail his return to our part of the world!

The location that formerly housed Chillis on the corner of Annandale Rd and Rt. 50 has been available "for lease" for more than two years. Of course that location really is a wasteland -- but it's worked for Present which is right around the corner.

[jparrott]

There is much that Americans, Washingtonians in particular, do not know about Marche where Fabio is from. Extraordinary food, exquisitely, uniquely delicious with new flavors and experiences. A fish stew, Brodetto all Anconetana, that blows away almost any bouillibasse and includes 13 fish idealy all caught that day!

I hear Little Rocky Run and Lake Anna are teeming with branzini and sepie right now.

Scorpion fish risotto, "Drunken" Tuna Marchigiana-Style (where tuna is seared in lard with anchovies and marsala, potato gnocchi with duck ragu. Above Uliassi is mentioned by me: simply one of the great restaurant in Italy, in all of Europe. An enchanting setting, you sit literally on the beach with water lapping near your feet while you are served.

Yep, Lake Anna it is!

For myself if Fabio can recapture the incredible flavors that we found in Marche and is able to source some of its wine (i.e. Kurni "If Romano Dal Forno made wine in Marche" WS).

I don't care what the Wine Spectator says. What I do care about is that toward the beginning of the 2000s, I always seemed to be able to find a good, expressive Rosso Conero on an Italian wine list for under $50, either here or in NYC. Those opportunities seem to be drying up (and I've looked...jeebus have I looked).

I can buy woody wine from anywhere. And Kurni is 200% new oak!

I'd be first in line.

Good thing. I hear parking's tight at Lake Anna.

[cheezepowder]

This will be interesting. Best Bites Blog twitter says Fabio Trabocchi is coming back to DC at old Le Paradou space. Click.

[Pool Boy]

This will be interesting. Best Bites Blog twitter says Fabio Trabocchi is coming back to DC at old Le Paradou space. Click.

Well, that'd be sweet.

[ScotteeM]

This will be interesting. Best Bites Blog twitter says Fabio Trabocchi is coming back to DC at old Le Paradou space. Click.

I ran this to ground with a very reliable source. It's strictly a rumor at this point. But it sure would be sweet if something like this were to happen in the future.

[Michael Landrum]

While out strolling tonight I saw the most unimaginable, improbable, reason-defying and thoroughly wrong, just wrong, sight--La Perla with 30-35, maybe more, diners. If that is not a sign of how much we need Fabio back here, I don't know what is.

[sphere777]

From the latest Tom Sietsema chat:

Fabio Trabocchi coming back to D.C.?: I read in a twit that Fabio Trabocchi signed a lease where in the place where Le Paradou was. Do you have any news about this? Too bad his Maestro space is gone, but I will be really excited if this is true. I ate at Maestro a lot and went to Fiamma as well. This will be a big plus for the D.C. dining scene.

Tom Sietsema: The chef told me last week that there's no firm (signed) deal at this point. I'll let you know if that situation changes.

Rob

[nmorrell]

**nervously looks around and waves hello**

Hi, so this is only like my 3 or 4th post here. I'm a total newbie but I do lurk here sometimes. You are all very witty and wise!

I am so excited to hear Chef Trabocchi might be returning to town. I was just browsing through his cookbook (Cucina of Le Marche) and on line lurking. It's been years since I made his Potato Gnocchi with Duck Ragu but am thinking I might just have to make it this weekend in honor of his (maybe-possible-fingerscrossed-holdingbreath) return to town.

Oh and I don't know fairfax county at all so I hate to say anything about what types of restaurants would work there but as a longtime resident of Old Town and now Del Ray I would cast my vote for my neck of the woods! We like yummy food and are usually willing to pay for it!

And lastly, I don't know how "legally acceptable" this is but I did post the recipe on my blog, well it will be posted tmr. morning at 7am. If you are interested in trying to make it yourself. It's really quite heavenly!!

http://ouiserb.blogspot.com

Cheers,

Texchef (AKA Ms. Ouiser B.)

[ventre]

Heard from a good source that it's set in stone for Fabio at the Le Paradou spot. It will be great for DC

This will be interesting. Best Bites Blog twitter says Fabio Trabocchi is coming back to DC at old Le Paradou space. Click.

[Pool Boy]

Heard from a good source that it's set in stone for Fabio at the Le Paradou spot. It will be great for DC

whoa...nice!

[ktmoomau]

Heard from a good source that it's set in stone for Fabio at the Le Paradou spot. It will be great for DC

Agreed Woohooo!

[ol_ironstomach]

As reported in the NYT: Trabocchi signs on through the end-of-year as a consulting chef at NYC's new Villa Pacri in the Meatpacking District.

[TedE]

Heard from a good source that it's set in stone for Fabio at the Le Paradou spot. It will be great for DC

Tom S. has confirmation in the intro to his chat today:

As long expected (and hoped) by DC food enthusiasts, Fabio Trabocchi says he is leaving New York for Washington, where today he's finalizing plans to lease the former Le Paradou space in Penn Quarter and transform it into Fiola. The acclaimed chef describes his new venture as "a more casual approach to what I was doing before at Maestro," the late ode to high-end Italian cuisine he presided over for six years at the Ritz Carlton in Tysons Corner.

The tucked-away location for the chef’s first restaurant of his own, 678 Indiana Ave. NW, is considered cursed by some but is special to Trabocchi, 36. "It's the first place I worked as a chef when I put foot in the U.S.," he says, referring to the late Bice and the mid-90s. It's also where the he met his wife, Maria, who worked in the restaurant's office.

Fiola is is a term of endearment fathers might use with their daughters, says Trabocchi. In his native Marchese dialect, the word is akin to "sweetheart," he adds.

The menu at Fiola will change daily and highlight the flavors of Marches. Trabocchi is calling his ideas "gourmet but accessible." They are also a continuation of “the democratization of gastronomy” he sees in the restaurant market.

Trabocchi left Maestro in 2007 to open Fiamma Osteria in New York; despite a three-star rave from the New York Times, the restaurant closed in January 2009, an early victim of the recession. The Four Seasons subsequently tapped him to helm its kitchen, but the arrangement lasted a brief three months. Since last month, Trabocchi has been consulting on Villa Pacri, a combination café, lounge and restaurant in New York’s Meatpacking District, which has been opening in stages.

Construction on Fiola is planned for January; the chef aims to open the 140-seat dining room in spring 2011. He also hopes to succeed where others haven't, and he's taking no chances: "I'm going to have it blessed three times before we open the door!"