A new upscale Italian restaurant, Adrienne’s, debuting this summer will bring the cuisine of the Amalfi Coast to Queens’ Rockaway waterfront.
The restaurant is named after Rockaway-native Adrienne Guttieri, executive chef of Midtown’s Trademark Bar and Kitchen, who unexpectedly died last summer.
Her brother Frank Guttieri says he decided almost immediately after his sister’s death that this was how he was going to honor her legacy.
“After a two week grieving period… I pretty much quit my job the day she died to pursue this in my mind,” he says. “The overall feel—the music, the vibe—is gonna be a f***ing powerful woman.”
A mix of kith and kin came together in the wake of Adrienne’s death on a mission to memorialize her. The restaurant will be housed in a waterside building, formerly occupied by Bayview Grille & Marina, that the extended Guttieri family has owned at various stints since the 80s. It has indoor and outdoor dining spaces with a divine deck showcasing its stunning views. Dockside boat service will be available.
“This place has been on my mind since I was a kid. Our family just has the fondest memories here,” says her brother, who will serve as the restaurant’s general manager with his cousin Chris Keegan. “I’ve dreamed of owning this place forever. It was never anywhere else but here. It’s definitely full circle and bittersweet.”
The kitchen will be helmed by Jeff Haskell, who mentored her as culinary director, along with her former colleague Mariel Burns who will create their cocktails. Keegan was also general manager at Trademark. Haskell had been working with Adrienne for some time before pursuing Trademark together in 2016. He says she was “without a doubt the best chef” he’s ever worked with, noting her positivity, creativity, humility and drive.
When asked about the dishes of Adrienne’s that they were nostalgic for, Haskell immediately mentions her bolognese.
“It was the best thing I’ve ever tasted,” Haskell says. “We talked her into putting it on the menu [at Trademark], and it turned out to be basically our most popular dish.”
It’s guaranteed that you can give her signature rigatoni bolognese made with whipped ricotta and grana padano a taste at the new restaurant.
Adrienne studied at the Italian Culinary Academy, spending six months in the land where her father’s family hailed from to perfect her craft. Given the restaurant’s waterside location, her brother says it was serendipitous to incorporate the culture and cuisine of the Amalfi Coast. The Guttieri’s are from a town in the area called Conca Di Marini.
“We’re not going for the classic Italian restaurant that you go to in the surrounding area [where you] get a chicken parmesan,” Haskell says.
In addition to Chef A’s rigatoni bolognese, customers can expect the menu to include spaghetti and clams with preserved lemon, nduja butter and pork pangrattato, which will be served with a signature Limoncello spritz cocktail, and burrata garlic bread with Calabarian chili honey and pepperoni butter.
“Adrienne loved to go out to nice places to eat,” her brother says. “We want this to be a place she would have wanted to come to.”
Can’t wait to try it!