Uccellino

For Allen Anderl, manager and co-owner of Uccellino, restaurants have long been places with a carefully balanced act: A performance of both conspicuous and discreet staging. “You should appreciate the wonders of the food but not realize how much work goes into it,” he says. “It’s kind of a catch-22; because, of course, we want people to recognize how hard we work — but, we also don’t want people to think, ‘Oh man, that must have taken so much time.’” It’s a sentiment he’s grown to believe in since he was a teenager, working his first job as a busboy.

Now, restaurants often feel like grand theatres to him. “You have the lights, the food, the wine and different liquors," he says. “And, creating an atmosphere in which people can enjoy themselves." It's something he hopes to fulfill at Uccellino.