Restaurateur Expands His Upper East Side Menu

The owner of three popular Italian restaurants on the Upper East Side is expanding his culinary empire. Later this month, Rome-born restaurateur Enrico Proietti, who presides over Baraonda, Per Lei, and Bella Blue, will open his fourth restaurant in the neighborhood, Ciaobella, named after his first New York venture.

Situated at 85th Street and Second Avenue, Ciaobella is just one block from its namesake, which Mr. Proietti opened in 1984 when he was 26. That was just two years after the entrepreneur immigrated to America from Italy, drawn to New York by images of glamorous movie stars, such as Dean Martin and John Travolta.

"At that time the Italian restaurant business was very stuffy," Mr. Proietti, whose restaurants serve up Italian fare in a casual, comfortable atmosphere, said. "The waiter would wear a black tuxedo, the lights were down. But I wanted people to stay and party."

The first Ciaobella closed in 1991 after Mr. Proietti's business partners decided to pursue other projects. Undeterred, he opened his second Upper East Side restaurant, Baraonda — the Italian word for frenzy — the same year. There, he installed a disk jockey to spin soft music, which to this day plays as guests dine on lobster ravioli and Chilean sea bass, among other house specialties. Later in the evening, the music speeds up, and guests get up to dance, often twirling and tossing their white dinner napkins, Mr. Proietti said.

The restaurateur said he hopes that Ciaobella's décor will attract young Yorkville residents; a red mosaic bar, dark wood floors, and a red crocodile-patterned ceiling adorn the new space.

As Mr. Proietti and the head chef of Ciaobella, Marino Rosato, prepare the menu for the new restaurant, they venture out each day at 2 a.m. to Hunts Point market in the Bronx; there, they find ingredients and inspiration.

"You have to see the fish, touch its eye, to make sure you get the best quality," Mr. Proietti said. His latest discovery is a sea bass from the Maldives. When searching for fresh seasonal produce, Mr. Proietti often visits farms in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Despite his cosmopolitan clientele, Mr. Proietti said he strives to give his restaurants a neighborhood feel. On holidays, Mr. Proietti invites his friends to one of his restaurants for a feast he prepares single-handedly.

This Thanksgiving, he prepared a cool 26 dishes. The crown jewel of the meal was a roast suckling pig, complete with an apple in its mouth.

Mr. Proietti said his long-term business plan is to expand beyond the Upper East Side and open a restaurant downtown, possibly in the meatpacking district.

For now, Mr. Proietti said he wants to bring the liveliness of downtown to the Upper East Side — the way he did in the 1980s with the original Ciaobella.

"Ciaobella is a new place with an old soul," he said.