Greg Vernick Opens Handmade Pasta Haven in Philadelphia's Fishtown Neighborhood

Six years after his last restaurant opening, James Beard Award-winning chef Greg Vernick crossed out of Center City and planted a flag at 2406 Frankford Ave. in Philadelphia's East Kensington-Fishtown corridor. Emilia, which opened in January 2026, is the first restaurant in Vernick's portfolio without his name above the door — a deliberate signal that something has shifted.

"It's our first [restaurant] that doesn't have 'Vernick' in the name, which was an intentional choice since it's been six years since our last opening and this felt like a new chapter," Vernick said. "It's also our first outside of Center City in a neighborhood I've come to love."

The person most responsible for what arrives at the table is chef de cuisine Meredith "Meri" Medoway, a Cherry Hill native and longtime Vernick collaborator who built the handmade pasta program at Vernick Food & Drink. Her Italian mother shaped her palate early; later, she studied abroad in Emilia-Romagna and spent three months cooking in Calabria. On the official site, Vernick credits her directly: "My longtime collaborator and Chef de Cuisine, Meri Medoway, whose shared affinity for Italian cuisine is rooted in her maternal family heritage, brings the Emilia experience to life."

Two pasta dishes anchored the opening menu from day one. Tortellini in Brodo is the kind of bowl that announces a kitchen's intentions quietly. The Rigatoni Ragù Bianco — technically Emilia's lone chicken dish — traces back to a meal in Rome where Vernick's team ate a simple hand-cut chicken ragù with livers, hearts, and almost no sauce. "We didn't even talk much while we were eating it," Vernick recalled. "Later, walking back into central Rome, we all realized: That was one of the best pastas we had on the trip, and we'd eaten three to five pastas a day for three days." Back home, the team reworked it to honor the original idea rather than replicate it. The menu also includes capellini with pesto and radiatore in mushroom Bolognese.

Much of Medoway's cooking runs through a 48-inch charcoal- and oak wood-fired grill, which shapes dishes from rabbit Emiliana — a regional Emilia-Romagna take on cacciatore finished with roasted peppers, green olives, fresh orange, and vinegar for a punchy sweet-sour profile — to a grilled cabbage salad tossed with anchovy-based colatura dressing and a pairing of tilefish with ribollita. Vernick describes the grill's output as "simple but punchy and strangely addictive." Every table receives complimentary breads: house-made focaccia, Mighty Bread's sesame ciabatta, and grissini.

The bar program stays entirely within Italy's borders, with a compact wine list of 25 to 35 bottles sourced from low-intervention Italian producers, cocktails built around spritzes and a rotating seasonal Negroni, and non-alcoholic options including Italian sodas and zero-proof cocktails. Bar seats come with housemade chips, complimentary.

The space itself — designed with lighting by Canno Design's Carey Jackson Yonce in collaboration with California-based designer Bob Bronstein — keeps things intentionally minimalist and subdued, with a mosaic tile entryway leading into a 60-seat dining room. Bar and lounge seating accommodates another 31 guests according to multiple sources, though the Philadelphia Inquirer breaks that figure into 10 bar seats and 20 lounge seats. Some tables are held specifically for walk-ins, a structural choice that reflects Vernick's stated dual target: "We want to hit two markets from day one: the neighborhood and the industry. If you get those right, everything else falls into place."

Co-owner Henry Siebert framed the broader ambition plainly: "We look forward to creating a welcoming neighborhood destination where great food and a beautiful space bring people together."

Emilia is open Sunday through Wednesday from 5 to 9:30 p.m. and Thursday through Saturday from 5 to 10 p.m. Reservations are available up to 30 days in advance via Resy; the full dinner menu is available at the bar. Parties of seven or more should email info@emiliaphilly.com. The restaurant can also be reached at 267-541-2360.