This just in from Top Chef runner-up Bryan Voltaggio. The James Beard finalist, who opened Aggio in Power Plant Live! in June, has plans to open a second restaurant in Charm City by the end of this year. This will be his seventh restaurant in six years.
While Aggio is an upscale Italian restaurant, Family Meal, with an outlet already in in Frederick, will feature contemporary diner fare.
Family Meal will take over the old Houlihan’s spot in the Inner Harbor and Voltaggio, whose flagship restaurant is Volt in Frederick, couldn’t be happier about being part of Baltimore’s culinary scene.
“I moved back to Maryland after seven years in New York,” says Voltaggio, a Frederick native. “I wanted to open my first restaurant in Maryland, and I did. And I’ve always had my sights set on Baltimore—I was just waiting for the right opportunity.”
The Top Chef alumnus is hardly an unknown entity in town. His celebrated Volt in Frederick has been a destination dining spot for years. “People in Baltimore have been coming out to Volt for special occasions and on the weekends for years now,” says Voltaggio. “I wanted to have access to them on a regular basis.”
For all things Voltaggio, look for our exclusive interview in the November issue of Baltimore.