A new Italian restaurant will join an Old City dining boomlet

Fifteen years ago, Genti Mataj used to walk past 118 Market St. in Old City on his way home from his first American restaurant job at Positano Coast, and later at Spasso Italian Grill.

Now the Albanian-born, Italian-raised restaurateur, who owns three locations of Osteria Ama, has signed a 10-year lease for the property, on the corner across Letitia Street from Franklin Fountain. Later this summer, he expects to open Trattoria Ponte Vecchio there, an Italian restaurant inspired by Florence, where he learned to cook.

Mataj and his wife, Anisa, opened the first Osteria Ama in Chadds Ford in 2021, followed by locations in West Chester in 2023 and Rittenhouse later that year. His son, Lucas, owns Lucas Burger at 21st and Chestnut Streets, two blocks from the Rittenhouse location.

He said Ponte Vecchio’s menu will be broader that those at Ama.

“At Ama, we don’t have steaks, and we don’t have much fish on the menu besides salmon,” Mataj said. At Ponte Vecchio, diners can expect steaks, seafood, pizza, and tableside preparations such as Caesar salad and cacio e pepe tossed in a Parmesan cheese wheel.

The restaurant will occupy one room with two distinct personalities. One side will feature carpet, white tablecloths, and a more formal setup; the other will be more casual with bare tabletops and tile flooring.

Ponte Vecchio also will lean into what Mataj describes as traditional, house-made Italian cooking. He said he also intends to keep prices relatively modest. Chicken Parmesan, for example, is expected to land around $21.

“People keep increasing prices and cutting corners,” Mataj said. “I’d rather take pasta off the dish than increase the price.”

The restaurant plans to pursue a Pennsylvania limited liquor license, through a winery or distillery partnership, with an emphasis on spritzes and lighter drinks.

Ponte Vecchio joins a growing wave of restaurant activity in Old City as work wraps on the Market Street Old City Improvement Project and the revival of Tun Tavern moves forward on Second Street near Market.

Just a block west, the south side of the 200 block of Market is becoming an active dining corridor. Joining Frame Philly, which opened at 222 Market in 2022, the Yemeni coffee chain Qahwah House is targeting a summer opening at 224 Market, while Monto, an Irish pub from Fergus Carey and partners, is nearing its debut at 226. At 230 Market St., the owners of Oh Brother are preparing Baba Döner for a July opening, while plans are underway for a hot pot restaurant at 232 Market St.

Mataj’s broker, Billy Creagh of National Realty Old City, said he expects Ponte Vecchio to “add to the momentum” in that part of town.

Kyle Ruffin of MPN Realty, who represented the building owner, said Mataj would bring “a modern flair to the Italian dining scene in a location with a ton of potential.”