Take a look around Lo Spiedo, Marc Vetri's new Italian-influenced take on rotisserie and barbecue at the Navy Yard, opening this Monday, October 27. Though open to all for lunch and dinner, the new restaurant will provide a key amenity to the 11,000-odd office workers that flood the complex each day.
The casual, bi-level space is the work of Michael Gruber Design, who also handled Alla Spina, Amis, and Osteria. The walls in the upstairs dining room are covered in artwork by the same artist who tagged the interiors at Alla Spina, though the subject matter and style are quite different — portraiture and signage with a butcher shop and farm theme.
The main dining room is on the second level, including a glassed-off area that will accommodate private (but not that private) dining. Downstairs, the stainless steel-topped bar is the focal point, with another smaller seating area off to the side. With the kitchen semi-open at the back, you can glimpse just a bit of the massive, wood-fired Renato grill and rotisserie that drives Lo Spiedo's whole concept.
Though the exterior is not yet complete (no signs marked the building during pre-opening, making it easy to pass by, but the restaurant is at Building 500, the very first building on the left as you pass through the Navy Yard gates traveling south on Broad), manager Mike Falcey says they expect to fit an additional 60 seats on the front patio in nicer weather.
