Novo Cucina Is Now Open
Celebrated Restaurateur Riccardo Ullio Opens Innovative Italian Concept
ATLANTA (June 9, 2015) – Riccardo Ullio has opened his third Italian concept, Novo Cucina, and with it the renowned Atlanta restaurateur introduces a fresh new approach to eating Italian.
“Novo Cucina offers a fast, fun and affordable way to enjoy the best of what Italian cuisine has to offer: pizza, pasta, wine, gelato, and caffe,” said Ullio.
The menu offers the finest of what Ullio’s successful Inman Park concepts, Fritti and Sotto Sotto, have given diners for over 15 years: artisanal pizza, hand-made pastas, antipasti of salads and alluring appetizers such as funghi fritti and arancini. Here, they pair with the refreshing list of boutique wines held unoxadized and at perfect temperature at the restaurant’s Enomatic wine bar. Diners can feel free to sample wines from the Enomatic wine dispenser in three pouring sizes, then explore the gelato counter, then place their order after sitting in the spacious, open-air dining area, finishing their meal with Atlanta’s only gelato artigianale, spun in-house every day.
The spacious restaurant offers an inviting patio with French doors that open to the elements, plus a state-of-the-art open kitchen with bar seating that allows diners to see Novo chefs in action.
Novo’s card system, engineered by partner Mike di Paolo, is a whole new way to explore and experience dining out. The card allows guests the freedom to explore all Novo Cucina’s offerings, from the gelato bar to wine, cocktails and coffee, while offering table service as well. When ordering at the table, the card is perfect for creating separate tabs for large or small parties. Since servers and bartenders never exchange money, customers are assured accuracy and cleanliness.
Novo’s culinary team, led by Ullio, consists of longtime chef-collaborator Richard Silvey, celebrated Neapolitan pizzaiolo Massimo Andreozzi, and former AJC dining critic Meridith Ford as gelataia.
Novo Cucina is located at 5592 Chamblee Dunwoody Road, in Dunwoody Village Shopping Center. Novo is open Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Please visit www.novocucina.com or call 470-275-3000 for more information.
Chef-Restaurateur-Owner Riccardo Ullio
A native of Milan, Italy, restaurateur Riccardo Ullio moved to Georgia as an almost-teenager and spent his college days on Presidential Scholarship at Georgia Tech, garnering undergraduate and graduate degrees in environmental engineering.
Like many students, Ullio spent a lot of time working in food service and restaurants. Eventually the restaurant “bug” bit him hard.
“By the time I finished school, I had been working in restaurants my whole life,” explains Ullio. The energy, drive and sense of freedom that permeates the restaurant world was overpoweringly alluring, and he hung up his calculator for a chef’s hat.
Ullio followed his culinary dreams by working in some of the most prestigious Italian restaurants around the city, including Coco Pazzo and Pricci. Taking time to travel throughout Italy to study regional Italian cuisine, he opened his own restaurants, first Pasta da Pulcinella in 1994, then Sotto Sotto in 1999, Fritti in 2000, and Escorpion in 2011. Sotto Sotto and Ullio’s more casual pizza concept, Fritti, have become Atlanta’s finest Italian destinations for dining, serving honest, delicious food crafted from authentic Italian recipes. Sotto Sotto creates dishes that are delicious and contemporary, while maintaining the integrity of the ingredients and honoring the traditions of Ullio’s homeland. Escorpion, a traditional Mexican cantina, offers dishes from that country’s heartland, along with an array of specialty tequilas.
Now, Ullio has reimagined Italian cuisine with Novo, a fast-casual concept that marries the culinary traditions of Italy with the ease and modernity of casual dining.
