Modo Mio to close as chef rethinks his empire

After a 10-year run, the Italian BYOB gem Modo Mio will serve its last meal June 28.

Chef/owner Peter McAndrews has said he wants a change of pace.

Since opening Modo Mio – a Craig LaBan two-beller on Girard Avenue east of Second Street, just across from Northern Liberties – McAndrews has been empire-building, opening Monsu in the Italian Market, Popolino in Northern Liberties (now closed), La Porta in Media, Heffe in Fishtown, and three Paesano's sandwich shops (closing two of them). Now, he says, he wants to go back to being a chef.

He told Billy Penn's Danya Henninger that among the issues are soaring rents and staffing issues: "I don't know if it's because of increased competition or what, but it's not easy to find skilled people who want to work." Last winter, he told Henninger, he fired the staff of Paesano's Temple because he walked in and found them all drunk. Other job candidates have been unqualified or unwilling to work hard, he said.

The upshot: Starting the week after July 4, McAndrews plans to add lunch at Monsu (Ninth and Christian Streets), with pasta dishes and Paesano's acclaimed sandwiches.

He's also talking about taking over Rembrandt's in Fairmount, whose last day will be July 30 – where he was chef long ago.