This 28-year-old is about to open his third restaurant in the Philly suburbs
Alex Fiorello is headed to Bryn Mawr to unveil his next spot.
Main Line restaurateur Alessandro “Alex” Fiorello — who is slowly growing a suburban Italian portfolio, with a Wayne osteria and West Chester pizzeria — is preparing to open a new, bar-forward concept at Bryn Mawr Village, 915 Lancaster Ave.
The Bryn Mawr space, which opened in 2022 as the short-lived Marc Vetri-operated Fiore Rosso, most recently was Il Fiore. It closed last month.
The new project will sit at the top of Fiorello’s three-tier restaurant lineup. His Wayne restaurant, Alessandro’s Wood Fired Italian, opened in 2020 as an upscale-casual neighborhood osteria with a strong takeout business and a busy dining room. Alessandro’s Pizzeria, which the self-taught chef opened in April, is positioned as a casual lunch and slice shop serving pizza, cheesesteaks, and salads.
Fiorello grew up in the restaurant business. His father ran Fiorella’s Café in West Chester, while his mother’s family operated pizza shops in New York. Raised in Brooklyn, Fiorello worked in kitchens from a young age before returning to Chester County as a teenager.
Fiorello said Enoteca Alessandro’s or Alessandro’s Enoteca were in the running for the name of the new Bryn Mawr spot.
Fiorello, who said he is backed by investors, plans to maintain the restaurant’s industrial look, adding that the restaurant’s solid infrastructure would allow for a relatively fast turnaround.
“This new place will be a step up from Wayne,” Fiorello said. “Still approachable but more bar-focused, with a great bar scene.”
The menu will remain Italian at its core, built around house-made pasta, wood-fired pizzas, and a wood-fired grill, with several signature dishes from Alessandro’s Wood Fired Italian carrying over. The new kitchen will also feature dry-aged proteins, using on-site aging refrigerators inherited with the space, and may incorporate subtle Japanese influences, including a small number of sushi-style items.