A new restaurant with a hidden speakeasy is coming to West Chester from the owners of the town’s popular pasta bar, dolce Zola, writes Emma Dooling for the Philadelphia Business Journal.
Giorgio Belfiore and his parents, Antonella Gamba and Pietro Belfiore, bought a building just a few doors down from their eatery in April for $3.5 million. A liquor license was included in the sale.
Belfiore, a managing partner at GrayBloom Capital Partners, a real estate firm he established in 2020, grew up working at his parents’ restaurant. When an opportunity arose to purchase a nearby building and open a restaurant there, he said he could not say no.
The as-of-yet-unnamed restaurant will occupy the entire ground floor of the space once housing DeStarr’s Restaurant & Bar. It will be a small plate concept offering new American cuisine with an Italian flair.
The family is currently working to obtain the necessary permits to convert the basement into a speakeasy, where they plan on serving special craft cocktails not available at the restaurant.
“We definitely want it to be more innovative and cooler,” said Belfiore.
The projected opening date is December.
Read more about the new small plate restaurant coming to West Chester from dolce Zola owners in the Philadelphia Business Journal.
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Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on VISTA Today in May 2025.
