FiDi Italian Restaurant Reopens With a New Look

Palio D’Asti closed for an extensive remodel earlier this year, and six months later, it’s ready to debut anew. Now simply called Palio, the 28-year-old Financial District restaurant opens today at 640 Sacramento Street.

The biggest structural changes involve a much larger bar and an expanded lounge area, aimed at meeting today’s demands for more relaxed dining environments. Palio now offers a separate, more bites-oriented lounge menu to along with the new space. Yet the place looks even more elegant, with a contemporary and clean, black-and-white aesthetic.

Longtime executive chefs and brothers Mauricio and Jose Alberto Martinez are still in the kitchen with a slightly altered focus. Instead of emphasizing the cuisine of Asti, as its previous name dictated, the chefs will highlight a variety of Italian regions between its wood-fired pizzas, pastas, and mains. Old favorites from the Palio D’Asti days, like whole branzino and cocoa-flavored parpadelle with boar ragu, are designated as classics on the menu.

There’s also a new cocktail menu from Matt Grippo and Shirley Brooks of Bottom of the Barrel. It features some spritzes on draft and an emphasis on Italian amaro. Check it out below.

Palio is open from 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. on weekdays and from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Saturdays.

• Palio [official]
• How a FiDi Italian Standby Remodels for a New Generation of Diners [ESF]