{"id":174359,"date":"2025-08-25T12:57:14","date_gmt":"2025-08-25T12:57:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/174359\/"},"modified":"2025-08-25T12:57:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-25T12:57:14","slug":"fresh-pasta-fresh-start-as-eccolo-revives-a-storied-w48th-street-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/174359\/","title":{"rendered":"Fresh Pasta, Fresh Start as Eccolo Revives a Storied W48th Street Space"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s a new Italian restaurant reviving a long-vacant storefront in Hell\u2019s Kitchen, and its owner is no stranger to the neighborhood.<\/p>\n

\"PatrickPatrick Lima, the owner of Eccolo on W48th Street, has opened nine restaurants in Hell\u2019s Kitchen since 2000. Photo: Brennan LaBrie<\/p>\n

When Patrick Lima opened Eccolo on W48th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues earlier this month, it became his ninth restaurant in Hell\u2019s Kitchen \u2014 and 12th on Manhattan\u2019s West Side. The space was previously home to the Swiss-Austrian restaurant Mont Blanc, which moved to W52nd Street between 8th and 9th Avenues in 2016 after 30 years on W48th Street. The struggling restaurant closed for good in fall 2020<\/a> in the midst of the pandemic.<\/p>\n

Patrick currently operates three Mexican restaurants: Sombrero \u2013 which sits right next door to Eccolo, Patron Mexican Grill on 9th Avenue, and Maiz on 8th Ave. His previous ventures include a French restaurant (Brasseria 52), two Brazilian restaurants (Brazil Grill and Brazil Brazil) and Italian restaurant, Pietrasanta.<\/p>\n

Patrick resists claiming any one cuisine as his speciality. \u201cI love good food,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I like to try new things.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Eccolo\"Renata Autali, general manager of Eccolo, pours olive oil to complement the focaccia, which is baked in-house daily. Photo: Brennen LaBrie<\/p>\n

However, Patrick \u2013 who hails from Brazil and traces his lineage to France and Italy \u2013 admits Italian food was his first love. When he moved to New York City 32 years ago, Italian restaurants were where he cut his teeth as a busboy, bartender and waiter, before taking over Sombrero in 2000.<\/p>\n

In the eight years since closing Pietrasanta, Patrick grew to miss serving Italian food \u2013 and he wasn\u2019t finding a linguine alle vongole to his liking in the area.\u00a0\u201cSo I said, you know the best thing to do? Let\u2019s open a restaurant that will deliver what people expect Italian food to be like,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Patrick called Victor Carbonara, a former collaborator who has run kitchens in upscale and fine dining restaurants across the city and Long Island. \u201cIt was an interesting project,\u201d Carbonara said. Patrick offered him \u201ca lot of freedom\u201d in creating the menu and encouraged him to get creative. Plus, he got to team up with his wife, Helen, who bakes fresh focaccia and classic Italian desserts each day.<\/p>\n

Carbonara\u2019s menu boasts traditional styles made modern, with a focus on fresh ingredients like wild-caught salmon and shellfish \u2013 and presentation.\u00a0\u201cThe food is unbelievable,\u201d Patrick said. \u201cYou\u2019ll fall in love\u201d<\/p>\n

Linguine elle vongole sits atop Eccolo\u2019s menu, but Patrick\u2019s favorite dish is the squid ink pasta with shrimp, clams, mussels, calamari and pancetta. For appetizers, he recommends the burrata with heirloom tomatoes, grilled pear and basil.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\nLinguine Alla Vongole, Flat Bread Alla Romana, Steak Alla Eccolo and Cozze Al Vino Bianco are just a few of the items on the menu. Photos: Gina Mastrostefano<\/p>\n

The pride of Eccolo is its fresh pasta, 99% of which is made in-house each day. \u201cThe labor is intensive, but we make an effort to do it,\u201d Carbonara said. \u201cWe take a lot of pride in what we do here.\u201d Even the butter is house-made.<\/p>\n

The care and detail put into the dishes translates to its presentation and delivery, Patrick said, as he and Carbonara aim to offer guests a fine dining experience at an affordable price.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The restaurant has a sleek, modern feel, and a playlist of contemporary lounge music to match. Patrick sought to curate an atmosphere that is equally as welcoming to families, date-goers, or locals who want to pop in for an espresso.<\/p>\n

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\nThe restaurant has a sleek, modern feel, creating an atmosphere that is equally as welcoming to families, date-goers, or locals who want to pop in for an espresso. Photos: Gina Mastrostefano<\/p>\n

The goal is cultivating community and a base of regulars, said Patrick, who lived on 50th Street for 10 years and now resides in Queens. \u201cWe put a lot of effort into making a nice restaurant, and we know that if people come here once they\u2019ll keep coming back,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Carbonaras aren\u2019t the only family on Eccolo\u2019s team; Patrick is joined by his wife, sister and son \u2013 all of whom help to run the trio of Mexican restaurants. This family extends to the restaurant\u2019s head server, Pier, who previously managed Pietrasanta.\u00a0\u201cHe\u2019s more than a brother,\u201d Patrick said. \u201cYou can\u2019t find a better person than Pier.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Eccolo\"Patrick Lima, owner of Eccolo, and general manager Renata Autali stand outside the new restaurant on W48th Street. Photo: Brennan LaBrie<\/p>\n

Kindness is a key criteria in building his staff, he added.\u00a0\u201cWhen you go to a place and they recognize you and they give you a beautiful smile and make you feel at home, it makes the whole difference,\u201d said Patrick, who credits his emphasis on service as key to his success in NYC\u2019s grueling restaurant scene.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think if you have a good location, good service, a clean place and good food \u2013 there\u2019s no way to get it wrong,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd make sure you care about the people in the neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eccolo is located at 315 W48th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues and is open Tuesday through Sunday from 4pm to 11pm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There\u2019s a new Italian restaurant reviving a long-vacant storefront in Hell\u2019s Kitchen, and its owner is no stranger…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":174360,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,405,403,99240,5226,5225,5228,5227,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-174359","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-new-york-city","11":"tag-newcomers","12":"tag-newyork","13":"tag-newyorkcity","14":"tag-ny","15":"tag-nyc","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-united-states-of-america","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","20":"tag-us","21":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115089522331549487","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=174359"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174359\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/174360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=174359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=174359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=174359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}