by TM Petaccia

Keeping the status quo is rarely an option for Mano Bella owners Raffaele and Madison Patrizi. On the heels of opening their new Ardente pizza concept this past summer, the couple took another look at the duo’s original concept’s 7th Street and SouthPark locations, and decided it was time to make a few changes.

Visitors to Mano Bella’s space at The Market at 7th Street will discover a new open look and additional pantry items for sale in addition to new menu items while the SouthPark trattoria also sports a refreshed look to go along with the fall dishes. But that’s not all; the Patrizis have expanded the restaurant’s wine tastings and special event dinners, plus have launched a new series of cooking and cocktail classes. It’s all part of their desire to tell a fuller story about the family business behind all three locations, including Ardente.

“I don’t think we’ve really publicly shared with everybody the full extent of what we do,” Madison Patrizi says. “I think we’re in a position now with our team growing and with the work that we did with (Charlotte branding agency) Made Outside, we’re really ready to tell our story.”

That story centers on family, Italian traditions, food made by hand, and the work that goes into sourcing ingredients, both from local farms and imported from Italy. For Madison, the visual changes are an opportunity to communicate more of what already happens in the kitchens. The menu changes go further, with Raffaele outlining roughly 10 to 15 additions grounded in traditional Italian cooking at SouthPark, with some exclusive additions at 7th Street.

“I keep everything traditional,” Raffaele Patrizi says. “I don’t do spaghetti and meatballs. We are now doing a braised beef round ragu, that is the top of the leg of the beef, it’s going to be slow-roasted for eight hours, very flavorful.” To make room on the menu, one of the more popular menu items, the wild boar ragu, is leaving the menu, for now. “It might be a secret item,” Madison says. “You never know.”

Another SouthPark addition is a crispy pork belly appetizer, Porchetta Croccante, served with fried kale and a house agrodolce sauce. Ravioli is also moving onto the SouthPark menu, building on its reception at Ardente and in Mano Bella’s retail business. It will take the place of tortelloni, which the owners plan to continue making for retail customers and wholesale partners.

One of the additions to the Uptown menu, is a collaborative effort between Mano Bella and its 7th Street neighbor, Chop Chop Red Pot. “It’s a PLT, BLT Italian style, my family recipe of pancetta which is smoked by our friend chef Erick Crawford at Chop Chop. I’ve known him for over five years now. And he’s smoking that pork belly to perfection.” Another new sandwich pairs roast beef with a porcini spread, tomato, and arugula. Madison admits she initially questioned the combination and suggested other ingredients. A taste settled the matter. “I have no notes. This is probably my favorite,” she says.

In all. there are six total sandwiches on the Uptown menu, which Raffaele considers enough for a business whose focus remains pasta. “We are not a sandwich shop,” he says. “We are a pasta company. Six is plenty.”

The effort to simplify extends to the pasta menu. Some popular dishes are offered as set combinations, including vodka pasta and ravioli with fresh pomodoro sauce and mozzarella, while customers can still build their own pasta dishes. “I think people get overwhelmed with too many options,” Madison says. That was becoming a problem with the previous Uptown menu, she says, where the number of choices and substitutions could make ordering more complicated than it needed to be. The revised menu gives customers some ready-made decisions without taking away the ability to choose their own combinations.

The revised 7th Street layout adds bar seating where customers can have a spritz and a plate of pasta while watching the production work that supplies the business throughout the week. It makes the making of pasta part of the visit, rather than something happening out of sight.

Beyond the menus and dining rooms, the Patrizis are planning a series of events intended to give customers more direct access to the people and traditions behind the food. A tour of Italy series will explore regional wines through tastings and four-course dinners. The regions discussed include the recent dinner focusing on Umbria with upcoming events centering on Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany.

Raffaele is also preparing to answer a request he says he has heard for years: teaching customers how to make pasta. Mozzarella classes are part of the plans, too, along with a cocktail class at Ardente. The classes will be limited to eight to ten people. Food and drinks will be part of the experience, with the small size allowing time for instruction and hospitality. For a business working to share more of what happens behind the scenes, those classes offer another way to bring customers into the process. They also give the Patrizis a setting to share their food at a more personal pace. “It’s going to be very intimate,” Madison says.

Behind it all are the culinary tradtions that reflect the deeply personal commitment by the chef.

“When I do new recipes, I make the dish and then I close my eyes and I cry inside myself,” Raffaele says.

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