Fortina, opening in December at Rye Ridge Shopping Center was feature recently in LoHud’s article Eat Here Now: Fall’s new restaurants
Good food and fun times are the common denominators in the season’s new openings
Liz Johnson, Megan McCaffrey, Amy Sowder and Christine Gritmon for LoHud.com

Red sauce with attitude
Fortina, Rye Brook

Opening: Late December.

After a smashing success in Armonk, the Fortina boys — Christian Petroni, Rob Krauss and John Nealon — and chef Jodi Bernhard are opening a second location. The space, a former Pizza N Brew, had a great mosaic floor and a big skylight; they’re refurbishing both. Like at the original Fortina, there will also be a big, long bar. As for the menu, expect many of the same favorite better-than-red-sauce dishes: “straightforward Italian, cooked in wood-fired ovens,” including pizzas, pastas and entrees. This location will also have a custom-designed wood-fired grill, so the menu will include even more meat, fish and vegetables. For dessert: handmade soft-serve ice cream in flavors like fior di latte and cappucino swirl. “What we try to do is make people walk in and feel comfortable before they even have a bite of food,” says Petroni.

Good to know: They’re also opening a location in Stamford, Connecticut.

Go:136 S. Ridge St., Rye Brook. No phone yet.