Food and Drink

New Italian restaurant and market brings Roman vibes to Dilworth

House-made pasta and wood-fired pizzas are on the menu at a new Italian restaurant now open in Charlotte’s Dilworth neighborhood.

Ardente Kitchen debuted Wednesday, June 24, in the former Capiche space at 500 E. Morehead Street. The concept draws on family-run trattorias found across Rome and promises “approachable” Italian cuisine with locally-sourced ingredients.

An overhead view shows a restaurant table filled with an assortment of small Italian plates, wine, and bread. The dishes include green olives with orange peel, large white beans with herbs, burrata cheese over sliced zucchini, and fried croquettes with dipping sauce. Two hands are visible: one holding a glass of red wine and the other breaking apart a piece of crusty bread.
“Ardente is about recreating the feeling of sitting around a table in Italy, sharing food, conversation and time with the people you love,” co-owner Raffaele Patrizi said. Made Outside

“Our hope is that when guests walk through the doors, they feel transported — not to a themed version of Italy, but to the authentic feeling of discovering a neighborhood spot in Rome where great food, great drinks, and great company come together naturally,” co-owner Madison Patrizi said in a news release.

Patrizi and her husband, Raffaele Patrizi, also own Mano Bella Artisan Foods.

A medium shot of a smiling couple looking affectionately at each other inside a large hoop house greenhouse. The person on the left wears a dark gray chef’s coat, and the one on the right wears an orange logo t-shirt and light linen pants. They stand along a central dirt path, flanked by neat rows of green crops with drip irrigation lines under the curved metal frame of the structure.
Raffaele and Madison Patrizi co-own Ardente Kitchen and Mano Bella Artisan Foods. Ardente Kitchen
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Earlier this month, their team spent several days transforming the 5,200-square-foot space into a Roman-style restaurant and market.

Customers can look forward to organic, handmade pasta and meats cooked over open fire, alongside seasonal veggies and sauces made from scratch, CharlotteFive previously reported.

A close-up, high-angle shot captures a person using a fork to twirl a bite of spaghetti from a white bowl. The pasta is tossed in a green herbaceous sauce and mixed with fresh seafood, including mussels in their shells and rings of squid. The dish sits on a dark wooden table next to a water glass and a gray cloth napkin.
At Ardente Kitchen, you’ll find housemade pasta, alongside wood-fired pizzas and locally-sourced vegetables. Made Outside

The lunch and dinner menu also includes:

  • A burrata bar with assorted accoutrements
  • Wood-fired wings
  • Arrosticini lamb skewers
  • Meatball, caprese and chicken pesto sandwiches

Beyond dine-in service, Ardente will offer weekly specials, family-style meals and a market stocked with prepared foods and imported pantry staples.

It’s “about recreating the feeling of sitting around a table in Italy, sharing food, conversation and time with the people you love,” Raffaele Patrizi said.

Ardente: Roman Kitchen & Market opens at 11 a.m. daily, Monday-Saturday.

An outdoor sign on a tiled, light-cream building facade reads “ARDENTE ROMAN KITCHEN AND MARKET” in bold white and orange lettering against a dark rectangular background. Below the main name, the restaurant’s tagline is written in smaller, spaced-out capital letters: “REALLY GOOD — MADE SIMPLY — WITH INTENTION.” The shot is taken from a low angle, looking slightly upward at the exterior branding.
Ardente Kitchen in Dilworth is the latest concept from husband and with restaurateurs Madison and Raffaele Patrizi. Made Outside

Ardente Kitchen

Location: 500 E Morehead St #100, Charlotte, NC 28202

Cuisine: Italian

Menu

Instagram: @ardentekitchen

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Tanasia Kenney
Sun Herald
Tanasia is a service journalism reporter at the Charlotte Observer | CharlotteFive, working remotely from Atlanta, Georgia. She covers restaurant openings/closings in Charlotte and statewide explainers for the NC Service Journalism team. She’s been with McClatchy since 2020.
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