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Chefs Nathan and Elana Pearlman have opened Piccolina, a New York-Italian restaurant in Asheville’s River Arts District.The couple decided to launch their own business after losing their jobs due to flooding from Tropical Storm Helene.Piccolina’s menu features Neapolitan and Italian-style sandwiches, pizza, Italian ice and other desserts.
ASHEVILLE – Nathan and Elana Pearlman were fledgling chefs studying at the Culinary Institute of America in New York when they met through a mutual friend and began dating more than a decade ago. In 2017, the couple wed, and now they’ve married their visions of the ideal restaurant to conceptualize Piccolina, a New York-Italian restaurant in Asheville.
In September, Piccolina opened at 375 Depot St. in the Aura Arts, an art studio building in the River Arts District with more than 60 artists at Trackside Studios, Jaime Byrd Contemporary Art Gallery and Clayworks.
“Being around artists is inspirational. I feel like our food is very art-driven, and I love this part of town,” Elana Pearlman said.
Piccolina’s menu features traditional Neapolitan and Italian-style sandwiches and pizza, along with Italian ice and other treats.
Chef Nathan Pearlman brings his expertise in pizza-making and sandwich-stacking into the fold, while Pastry Chef Elana Pearlman also shines in the bread-baking and dessert departments.
“Just like our pizzas are baked to order, our bread is baked to order. It’s hot because it just came out of the oven, not because it was reheated or toasted,” Nathan Pearlman said.
Opening a new restaurant in RAD after Helene
Nathan Pearlman said that, although they are Jewish and not Italian, their background motivated the development of an Italian-inspired eatery.
Elana Pearlman grew up in Southern California, but was born in New Jersey, where her core family still resides in New York, New Jersey and Long Island. Nathan Pearlman grew up in the Hudson Valley, New York, raised by parents from Staten Island and New Jersey.
“I grew up in a small town. … and in that town there were five Italian restaurants, and 10 minutes away there was another town with five more Italian restaurants, so it was something that I was always eating,” he said.
For 10 years, the couple lived in Austin, Texas, before relocating to Asheville with their dog, Roux, mere weeks before Tropical Storm Helene arrived in Western North Carolina last fall.
“We moved here knowing this is something we wanted to do. We’d been working out this concept for a few years already, and Helene happened, and we both lost our jobs,” said Nathan Pearlman, who stated that the restaurants were in RAD and were destroyed by flooding and had eliminated positions.
In their pivot to new employment, they decided to take the leap into entrepreneurship, starting with underground pop-ups that were overwhelmingly popular. They were referred to Mountain BizWorks, a local nonprofit that assists small business startups, allowing the Pearlmans to build the foundation for Piccolina.
The RAD suite was on track to open as Black Cat Sandwich Company, from the same owner as Gypsy Queen Cuisine, but Helene thwarted those plans.
“After all these months of construction and getting everything ready, we’re now at the point where Gypsy Queen was at the same time Gypsy Queen was here a year ago, so it’s bittersweet, but we’re grateful to have the opportunity,” Nathan Pearlman said, ahead of Piccolina’s Sept. 24 soft opening.
The Pearlmans said Piccolina is a condensed version of their original restaurant plan, and they would one day like to open a pizzeria with a dedicated ice cream menu.
On the menu: Piccolina
Piccolina, which translates from Italian to mean “little one,” has a capacity for 20 diners and is now open for lunch, with weekend dinner service launching soon.
Piccolina focuses on sandwiches, with appetizers, salads, pizza and desserts rounding out the menu.
Sandwich options include prosciutto, mortadella, porchetta, confit chicken and a vegetarian option using fresh ingredients from local harvests. Housemade items include the porchetta and pesto and the mozzarella, ricotta and stracciatella cheeses. Freshly baked bread includes sourdough, pizza dough and sandwich bread.
Nathan Pearlman said his favorite is the prosciutto sandwich, inspired by a sandwich he often ate at a family restaurant near the CIA in New York. Piccolina’s is made with stracciatella, pesto, arugula and balsamic.
“Simple and delicious,” he said.
Elana Pearlman’s go-to is the mortadella sandwich, which makes her nostalgic for the couple’s visit to Bologna, Italy.
A Margherita pizza is on the menu, with the option to add pepperoni.
The price point ranges from $14 to $20 for sandwiches and $16 for a 10-inch pizza.
Elana Pearlman said the desserts are intended to be reminiscent of what one would find in Italian diners, like butter cookies and pistachio mound cookies.
Piccolina opened with the chocolate Italian ice on the menu, which is an ode to old-school New York.
The zeppole, a doughnut made with fried dough, powdered sugar and apple batter, is offered, too.
“It’s homey and perfect to share for the table. You get a little messy with the powdered sugar, but it’s the perfect childlike dessert,” she said.
Desserts are $3 to $7.
Nonalcoholic drink options include Sicilian blood orange and limonata sodas, cold brew coffee and the iced latte of the day, ranging from $3 to $5. Glasses of wine and vermouth cost $11 to $15.
Piccolina’s grand opening celebration is tentatively scheduled for the week of Oct. 17, which is when dinner service is expected to launch.
Piccolina
Where: 375 Depot St., Suite 101, Asheville.
Hours: 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday.
Info: For more, visit piccolinaavl.com and follow @piccolina.avl.
Tiana Kennell is the food and dining reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Tips, comments, questions? Email tkennell@citizentimes.com or follow @PrincessOfPage on Instagram. Sign up for AVL Bites and Brews, our weekly food and drink newsletter here.
Dining and Cooking