St. Vito Focacciaria gets permanent location
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St. Vito Focacciaria, the Sicilian-style pizza pop-up, has found a permanent home in the Gulch.
- Chef Michael Hanna tells Axios a January opening is the best-case scenario.
Why it matters: Axios profiled the St. Vito pop-up in February, when it was housed inside the popular west Nashville restaurant Hathorne on Sunday evenings.
- The day after our story, St. Vito and Hathorne announced the pop-up would come to a close, leading some to wonder if Axios Nashville had a pizza curse.
The latest: Hanna says the new location at 609 Overton St. will be intimate, with seating for just 42 patrons.
- The space will also feature a 17-seat bar.
- The menu will offer slices and whole pies in addition to other entrees and a rotating list of three sides each night.
Driving the news: What will remain the same is Hanna's unique spin on pizza, with crunchy-meets-fluffy crust and produce sourced from Harpeth Moon Farm in Kingston Springs.
What he's saying: Hanna combs through Sicilian recipe books from the 1700s and 1800s to draw inspiration for his menu.
- "We're not like Catbird Seat or Locust, but we're pushing the envelope," he says.
- "My goal is to make really simple food and make sure it's a bit different. It's also very traditional."
Flashback: Opening a permanent restaurant has been an odyssey. St. Vito bounced among four temporary locations.
- The bar will look into the kitchen, and Hanna says the plan is to directly engage with diners — a callback to the restaurant's humble beginnings.
- "It's going back to when we were selling out of the house, meeting customers in the driveway and me coming into the street and having a conversation with them. We're going to be very hands-on."
Flash forward: St. Vito will be one of the few out-of-town invitees serving pizza at the prestigious Pizza City Fest in Chicago July 23-24.