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Here’s What You’ll Be Eating at Via Locusta, Michael Schulson’s New Rittenhouse Restaurant

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The Italian restaurant just off Rittenhouse Square is about to open with handmade pasta and a full bar

plate of pasta with egg
Via Locusta in Philadelphia
Marissa Evans

Rittenhouse Square is about to get another restaurant from a Philly hitmaker. Via Locusta, from Michael Schulson, Nina Tinari, and Jeff Michaud, opens Tuesday, December 17, on Locust Street just off the park.

The focus at Via Locusta (1723 Locust Street) is on pasta, hand-made with fresh-milled flour in a rotating selection of 10 to 12 options. The menu also includes focaccia with cheese and fermented sausage, small plates like scallop crudo, and a few bigger meat, poultry, and fish dishes made for sharing.

Schulson and Tinari, his wife and business partner, are adding this new Italian restaurant to the list of popular Philly spots already in their empire, like Japanese restaurant Double Knot, steakhouse Alpen Rose, and massive Italian eatery Giuseppe & Sons. They also co-own Osteria, the former Marc Vetri restaurant on North Broad, with chef Michaud, who’s been at Osteria since it opened more than a decade ago. Michaud developed the Via Locusta menu with the restaurant’s executive chef, Ed Pinello.

The look at Via Locusta is from designer Home Studios, which also worked on Giuseppe & Sons. It’s another smaller space, compared to Giuseppe, with seats for 40 in the dining room and 10 at the bar. There’s also a private room upstairs overlooking the main dining room.

Starting December 17, Via Locusta is open Sunday to Thursday from 4:30 to 11 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 4:30 p.m. to midnight.

Take a peek at the dining room and bar:

restaurant interior with white tile walls, tables, and a bar Marissa Evans
long bar in restaurant Marissa Evans

Here’s a 24-ounce dry-aged strip steak:

strip steak Marissa Evans

A plate of paccheri:

An artfully constructed salad:

salad with chicory, orange, pistachio Marissa Evans

A wreath of crudités:

cut veggies arranged on a plate in a circle Marissa Evans

And a photogenic scallop crudo:

Marissa Evans