At Vetri’s new Fiore Rosso, expect $168 steaks with a view of Picasso

Chef Marc Vetri and Jeff Benjamin, the duo behind the Philadelphia landmark Vetri Cucina and its South Philly pasta-focused sibling Fiorella, are in the early days of Fiore Rosso, an Italian steakhouse in Bryn Mawr Village (915 W. Lancaster Ave., Bryn Mawr).

They stripped the space that housed Tredici Enoteca down to the walls, which now hold an impressive array of art. The 130-seater’s grand environs spread beneath soaring ceilings, with an adjacent cozy but minimalist bar, 16-seat private room, wine cellar (mostly Italian), and tower-style meat-aging case beside the partly open kitchen.

Fiore Rosso was not designed as a traditional American steakhouse — e.g. “a wedge salad, shrimp cocktail, 15 steaks, creamed spinach, and a baked potato,” Vetri said. The concept was inspired by Nancy Silverton’s Barish in Los Angeles and butcher Dario Cecchini’s Carna locations in Dubai and the Bahamas.

The steaks include a Creekstone Farms bistecca alla Fiorentina ($168), a 40-day dry-aged Niman Ranch bone-in ribeye ($126), a Creekstone Farms striploin ($75), and a Snake River Farms wagyu rib cap ($85), all aged in-house.

Chef Jesse Grossman said patrons typically share a steak and build dinners from small plates such as chicken liver crostini and eggplant suppli; salads including the classic Vetri warm salad with pancetta and egg; antipasti such as grilled, pastrami-spiced sweetbreads; pastas like crab and shrimp paccheri; and main plates (grilled swordfish, whole grilled orata, half-chicken, veal Milanese).

Grossman, who grew up in Northeast Philadelphia and Bucks County, joined the Vetri organization from Vernick Food & Drink, where he was executive sous chef. He previously was chef de cuisine and executive chef at Osteria.

Bar highlights include a Tuscan Manhattan with bourbon, Antica, and Tuaca; the signature Fiore Rosso cocktail (clarified whiskey punch with Lambrusco); and a Mezgroni (mezcal, Antica, and Campari). The dirty martini comes with a cheese-stuffed olive wrapped in prosciutto.

Fiore Rosso may be the only restaurant in the region featuring original works by Pablo Picasso and Joan Miró, among other well-known artists.

Two couples who are Fiore Rosso’s primary investors, Tom and Tracey Gravina and Michael Forman and Jennifer Rice, are loaning the art from their private collections. The large photograph next to the espresso station is A Broad and Expansive Sky: Ancient Rome by Carrie Mae Weems. Picasso’s Woman in Armchair, No. 2 is to its right, next to the Miró lithograph La Premiere Nuit Du Printemps. (Vetri mentioned unspecified security features built into the restaurant.)

» READ MORE: Video: Behind the scenes at Fiorella in the Italian Market

“It’s a nice way to create an atmosphere that we hope is warm and inviting,” Tom Gravina said.

Fiore Rosso has been on the books for about a year, but Tom Gravina said he and Forman had wanted to open such a restaurant for a long time with Vetri and Benjamin.

Gravina, a native Main Line entrepreneur who founded and sold Evolve IP, a cloud-computing company, said he saw a void for such a steakhouse — not only on the Main Line but throughout the region.

“I’ve always felt that there are a lot of great people in the industry and some places that have been obviously successful,” Gravina said. “But none were at the level of what I think Marc and Jeff can bring to the table.”

“Marc is a culinary genius and his reputation is deserved and earned over a long time and the same goes for Jeff. They were a big motivation for me. Honestly, they are key to the whole thought and strategy.”

Vetri said the restaurant would serve dinner only at the outset, and would beef up its menu as staffing increases.