Two of Detroit’s best-known Italian-focused chefs are teaming up on a new Grosse Pointe restaurant, bringing a menu of red-sauce classics, house-made pasta and family-style ambition to a former neighborhood dining space. Angelo’s Fine Italian is expected to open this fall, giving the east-side suburbs a new restaurant with serious culinary credentials behind it.
According to The Detroit News, the project comes from Jared Gadbaw, chef-owner of Detroit’s Oak & Reel, and Cory Barberio, chef at San Morello and a managing partner at the Shinola Hotel. The restaurant will be called Angelo’s Fine Italian, a name inspired by Barberio’s son.
A New Italian Restaurant For Grosse Pointe Park
Angelo’s will take over the former City Kitchen space on Kercheval in Grosse Pointe Park. An earlier report from What Now Detroit said the ownership team was aiming for an opening after Labor Day or toward the end of September, although the newer announcement describes the timeline more generally as this fall.
The full menu is still being finalized, but the early lineup could include baked clams, mortadella, house-made pasta, bread and breaded eggplant. The concept is expected to blend Italian and American cooking, with the sort of familiar dishes that can handle both a family dinner and a more celebratory night out.
Two Detroit Restaurant Veterans Join Forces
Gadbaw brings a heavyweight résumé to the partnership. The chef’s official Oak & Reel biography says he led New York’s Marea, which held two Michelin stars for nine straight years, before returning to his native Michigan and opening the seafood-driven Italian restaurant in Detroit.
Barberio has been part of the Shinola Hotel’s food-and-beverage operation since San Morello opened. The hotel describes San Morello as a Southern Italian restaurant, while its own programming highlights Barberio’s nostalgic dishes, house-made pasta and modern takes on classic Italian cooking.
Barberio told The Detroit News that Angelo’s is intended to be a place where friends gather, and families connect over familiar food. Gadbaw said Grosse Pointe has a character of its own and that the partners saw an opportunity to add to the community fabric.
There is no firm opening date yet, and the team is directing prospective diners to Angelo’s website for updates as construction and planning move forward. If the fall launch stays on track, Grosse Pointe will soon have another Italian dining room with Detroit pedigree behind the pasta.
