Nook Kitchen in Phoenix’s Arcadia neighborhood is celebrating its reopening Wednesday, Sept. 9 with a new menu that features Italian favorites with a modern twist.

Chef Nick LaRosa, who is the 2017 “Chopped” champions, created Nook Kitchen, which sits at 4231 E. Indian School Road. The restaurant opened for four months after relocating before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Despite the restaurant attempting take-out services, the eatery closed for the summer.

Nook Kitchen reopens at limited capacity and reservations are recommended, according to a press release. The refreshed menu features Italian-style food that uses fresh ingredients.

“We’re excited and want to shout from the rooftops that ‘we’re back.’” Mr. LaRosa said in a prepared statement.

“And we’re really happy to be back, too. The time off has given us the opportunity to add new menu items, plus fantastic desserts and still focus on the dishes we know our patrons love. The specialness of our food is Italian with a twist. If you want to eat hearty, we’ve got it. If you’d rather eat light, we’ve got that too in spades.”

The menu will include house-made pastas such as the meat-heavy Casarecce Bolognese as well as the Veggie Campanelle for veggie lovers. Other entrees include a pan-seared salmon, an arugula pesto grilled chicken, a double bone-in pork chop and a burger ground from quality cuts of beef.

New to the menu are gelato flights in flavors Stracciatella, an Italian chocolate chip or shreds of chocolate, and pistachio by Cool Gelato Italiano.

The restaurant’s interiors are contemporary, including an Instagram art mural guests see at the exterior entry. Nook’s decor highlights its Italian roots with the Acunto M. Napoli pizza oven imported from Naples that rests as a shiny golden beacon with a pizza counter to watch the making of those authentic Napolitano-style pizzas.

Mr. LaRosa’s uses a hand-built oven from the Acunto family active for over 125 years, credited with being “foundational” to the development of pizza itself, a release states.

Frank Vairo, owner of Nook Kitchen with Mr. LaRosa; managing partner Nicholas Winger; and S. Barrett Rinzler, founder and CEO, Square One Concepts, all expressed their pride in the restaurant and its food.

Furthermore, they praised the food, the restaurants sommelier Matthew Wohleb and mixologist Gabe Chavez for making the restaurant what it is at its reopen.

“We can’t wait to welcome back our guests,” Mr. Winger said in a prepared statement. “We are operating with limited-seating and dining socially distanced due to pandemic regulations, so we encourage reservations, especially with our small dining room. It fills up quickly.”

Nook originally opened in December 2013 on the southeast corner of 36th Street and Indian School Road. The restaurant was 2,000 square feet. December 2019, Nook moved to its current home at 3,400 square feet.