Friday, July 23, 12:00 noon
Members $60, guests $70

It’s hard to be all things to all people, especially in the restaurant world, but under the guidance of Giuseppe Fanelli, Scopa is coming awfully close. Scopa “rewards virtually anyone’s food fancy,” wrote Zagat. Newyorkmetro.com noted that Scopa caters to “the neighborhood office-worker’s every need, from catered breakfast meetings to Venetian-inspired bar snacks…[to] a bustling takeout shop” with dishes like “he-man rib steaks, scrumptious pastas,” and a grilled pizza that rivals those from wood-burning ovens. According to Bryan Chin of NEXT magazine, “The restaurant’s popularity is no wonder, considering the top-notch Italian cuisine by chef Giuseppe Fanelli that’s as good to-go as it is in a formal setting.” Some of Chin’s favorites included the “delicious” and “savory” eggplant flan, the wild mushroom salad in a fricco bowl, the crabmeat ravioli, the “standout” bass en papillote, and the “mouth-watering” hanger steak with a portobello mushroom and Gorgonzola torte.

Fanelli’s versatility is no surprise, given his extensive background at the Big Apple’s most celebrated Italian restaurants. He started in high school, waiting tables at Italian restaurants near his home in New York State. After graduating from the New York State Sullivan County College Culinary School, Fanelli took a job aboard the Delta Queen, on the Mississippi River. He moved to Manhattan for the restaurant F.illi Ponte, where he worked his way up to executive chef. Fanelli’s next posts were as sous-chef to Lidia Bastianich at Felidia for two years, and as chef de partie at Union Pacific under Rocco DiSpirito. Fanelli was tapped by Frank Pellegrino, Sr. and Jr., to open their new restaurant, Baldoria, and while waiting for the restaurant to be built, he worked at the ultra-exclusive, über-legendary Rao’s. There he mastered Rao standards like lemon chicken and frutti di mare, which made it onto the Baldoria menu. New York magazine’s Hal Rubenstein had high praise for the new venture. Comparing it to Rao’s, he wrote, “Baldoria is bigger, roomier, friendlier…and to top it off, you’re going to wind up better fed,” thanks to Fanelli’s culinary prowess. Fanelli arrived at Scopa after a stint at Crispo, where he worked under the restaurant’s namesake, Frank Crispo.