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Okay, “soon” may be an overstatement, but MC Kitchen is “hopefully opening in early August,” in the former Fratelli Lyon space, says executive chef Dena Marino. This leaves us happily anticipating the modern Italian cuisine of Marino and partner, Brandy Coletta. Their design takeover will replace the current modern aesthetic with a rustic setting. The glass wall will become solid, to create privacy from the surrounding kitchen and furniture stores; other changes include an open kitchen for chef spying, stone floors with wooden inlay, and a more intimate seating layout.
Most importantly, what can you expect to see on the table? We asked Chef Marino for the menu details, and although she was hesitant to give too much away, we cajoled her into revealing a little more information than has been previously released.
The place will be open seven days a week, lunch pricing will be approximately $25 per person, and dinner will set you back around $45. The menu selections are in development, she plans to play around in the kitchen a bit. “I like to
use all the equipment in my kitchen daily, and see what is going to come out
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better in each area.” Sounds reasonable to us. There will be a wood burning oven where whole fish and quail will get a nice charring, and you can expect “a lot of fish and seafood, a ton of homemade pastas,
salads at lunch, shrimp dishes…we are curing meats and sausage in house, making our
own cheese, olives, and pickled vegetables.”
Marino “became a pro at pulling mozzarella,” while in the kitchen at Tre
Vigne (a fantastic restaurant in Napa that won our hearts as soon as a
giant ball of fresh, handmade mozzarella arrived table-side, still warm
and gushy), so you can also look forward to experiencing the joy that is
fresh cheese, among other things. They will be offering both take out
and catering, and have fully committed to both. “We will be able to do
take out for anything off the menu, catering any
kind of event. We will be able to do cooking classes at your house, we
will come over and cook at
anyone’s house!” The door is officially unlocked.
Tune back in for an interview in which we dive deeper into the “modern Italian” psyche of Chef Marino and discuss the blurred chasm between American-Italian food and the actual cuisine of Italy. Last but not least, she’ll share the narrative of how MC Kitchen came to be.
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