The Factory Kitchen Brings Northern Italian Fare to the Strip

Los Angeles-based The Factory Kitchen plans to bring its Italian fare to the Venetian in late December. The restaurant takes over the B&B Ristorante space at the resort. That restaurant closes July 27.

Restaurateur Matteo Ferdinandi, who formerly worked at Spago, and chef Angelo Auriana, who spent 18 years as the chef at LA’s Valentino, serve traditional Italian dishes in a trattoria-style restaurant. The two met in Los Angeles and stayed friends through the years. In 2013, they teamed up to open The Factory Kitchen with about 2,900 square feet of space, a much smaller footprint than Vegas will have. Ferdinandi says the Venetian space will include bar in the rectangular space that has its own menu, something not offered in Los Angeles.

Architect Thomas Schlesser of Design Bureaux creates the look of the 152-seat restaurant the features orange, forest green, and reclaimed wood tables. Art Deco-style light fixtures, concrete walls, and gray banquettes round out the decor, much like its sister restaurant in Los Angeles. There, diners can see the action in the open kitchen.

The Factory Kitchen, which takes its name from the street it’s on in LA’s Arts District and the building where it sits, plans to serve lunch and dinner when it debuts. Restaurant critic Jonathan Gold at The Los Angeles Times called the restaurant a “compelling new hybrid” of Italian restaurant, with an informal feel yet serving formal northern Italian fare.

Focaccia di Recco, a stuffed flatbread, and mandrilli, a handkerchief pasta with a pesto made from almonds, are two of the specialty dishes here, both inspired by cooking from the duo’s childhood. “We want to portray what our country is all about,” Ferdinandi says of the food.

Gold recommends the casonzei, a thin pasta stuffed with pork, cured pork, and veal and tossed with browned butter and sage; and quadretti, a ravioli filled with smoked ricotta and tossed with braised octopus. In Vegas, also plans to add risottos to the menu.

• The Factory Kitchen [Official Site]

• The Biggest Restaurant Openings in Las Vegas in 2018 [ELV]