Hearth Alum Jordan Frosolone Signs on to Sessanta, John McDonald's New Italian Restaurant

Some time round about March, John McDonald will open Sessanta, his coastal Italian restaurant in the Sixty Soho hotel. And when he does, a seasoned chef will be in the kitchen: Jordan Frosolone, who spent years as chef de cuisine at Hearth and August, has signed on to take the helm.

For the past two and half years, Frosolone has been the culinary director for Momofuku, but tells Eater he's been dreaming of cooking Sicilian food for years (his family is from Palermo), so he considers this "the chance of a lifetime."

The menu, Frosolone promises, will be mostly Sicilian, though with some dishes from other parts of the Italian seaside working their way in there. Most of it will be based on traditional dishes, a few of which will stay true to form, while others will be more loosely translated. Having just signed on a few weeks ago, Frosolone doesn't have much of an idea of exactly what those dishes will be, but does say that pasta con le sarde (pasta with sardines) will definitely be on the menu. Expect more of a modern New York restaurant than a super-traditional Italian restaurant, but still, Frosolone says, he's "hell-bent on being an ambassador" for Sicilian cooking.