Updated at 2 p.m. – Carluccio’s, an Italian restaurant, café and market, opened its Pike & Rose location in North Bethesda quietly over the weekend for staff training.
The United Kingdom-based chain was serving patrons Saturday in the 4,600-square-foot-spot at 11826 Trade St. It’s located on the first floor of the PerSei apartment building directly across from the project’s new parking garage.
The spokesperson said the eatery will be open for limited hours and with a limited menu over the next few weeks while construction of the space is finished. The official grand opening will be in early March.
When it does open officially, the restaurant and café will offer breakfast starting at 7 a.m. and a full lunch and dinner menu of soups, salads, pasta, meat and fish, with some of the smaller items—such as the focaccia bread—available in the market section of the restaurant.
It’s the second U.S. location for Carluccio’s, after the one in Alexandria, Virginia, that opened last year.
Antonio Carluccio, for whom the restaurant is named, was born in Italy and moved to the U.K. when he was 8. He started appearing in cooking shows on the BBC TV network in the 1980s and has written 13 cook books. He opened his first restaurant in 1991 and his first Carluccio’s food shop and market in 1999.
Carluccio and his business partners rapidly expanded the chain before selling to the Dubai-based Landmark Group in 2010.
The Neighborhood Restaurant Group is set to open a beer garden concept sometime this year next door to Carluccio’s at Pike & Rose.
Carluccio's at Pike & Rose. Credit: Aaron Kraut
