Six Months In, Espoleta Shutters and Morphs Into an Italian Restaurant

Less than six months after it opened, pizzaiolo Giulio Adriani has shuttered his Spanish restaurant Espoleta. Adriani inherited the space when he and his former Forcella partners split ways late last year. And, despite menu help from Sue Torres of the much-missed Suenos, Espoleta never seemed to really gain any traction. It seems Adriani's heart will always belong to pizza – in January he even siphoned off a part of the Bowery space to create SRO, which he calls a pizza speakeasy called SRO.

Adriani recently quietly passed off the space to former Forcella general manager Gianni Nocella, who soft opened Gia Trattoria in it this week. The design was tweaked just slightly and the team added outdoor seating, but it basically looks the same. Gemma alum Christian Iannicella is serving Nocella's mother's recipes including a lasagna bolognese, fettuccine al salmone, ravioli stuffed with broccoli rabe and burrata, and the the curious spaghetti pie with meatballs. Nocella will also supposedly encourage diners to request off the menu items, so they feel like they're eating in with him in his kitchen at home, which could make things a bit tricky for Iannicella.