Outside Osteria Bella
Courtesy of Osteria Bella
Chef Daniele Furfaro is getting ready to introduce a more refined version of his family’s Italian cooking to Alpharetta. Come October, he and his wife Bella are opening Osteria Bella at Halcyon, taking over the former Butcher & Brew space.
In the meantime, the Furfaros are changing the name of their other restaurant, Mezza Luna, to Trattoria Bella later this month. Furfaro says the change is designed to more clearly connect the Marietta restaurant with the new Osteria Bella in Alpharetta. (The Smyrna Mezza Luna operates under separate ownership.)
“We’re going to bring the same passion and the warmth of the family and high quality,” Furfaro said. “Restaurants in Italy are elegant. We’re going to make Osteria Bella chic.”
Chicken piccata
Courtesy of Osteria Bella
Born in Calabria in southern Italy, Furfaro attended culinary school there before moving to Georgia with Bella in 2014. The couple became part-owners of Mezza Luna in 2020, then took full ownership in 2023. At the Marietta restaurant, Daniele leads the kitchen while Bella oversees the front of house. Once Osteria Bella opens, Daniele will spend much of his time in Alpharetta working with chef Peter Guertin (Atlas, Bread & Butterfly), while chef Juan Gonzales continues to lead the Marietta kitchen.
Osteria Bella, however, will not be a straight copy of Trattoria Bella. Furfaro describes the Marietta restaurant as more family-oriented, serving a broader menu for lunch and dinner, including familiar Italian-American dishes such as chicken Parmesan, veal Parmesan and fettuccine alfredo. In Alpharetta, he plans to make the menu a little smaller, sleeker and more traditionally Italian.
“Alpharetta is more of a young crowd,” he said. “We’ll have more upscale, sophisticated dishes.”
Black squid ink spaghetti
Courtesy of Osteria Bella
About 30 percent of the menu will differ from that at Trattoria Bella, with a tighter lineup, more refined plating and what Furfaro calls a “100 percent Italian menu.” Pastas will be made in house at both restaurants. At Osteria Bella, dishes may include squid-ink tagliatelle with seafood, paccheri with slow-braised duck ragù, and branzino with lemon-butter sauce, capers, and cherry tomatoes. Furfaro also plans to offer specials such as sea bass, lobster, short rib, lamb chops, and veal chops.
Desserts will be made in house, too. While some of the classics may overlap with Trattoria Bella, Furfaro said the presentations will be different. The beverage program will also get its own identity, with a 100 percent Italian wine list, including reserve bottles. There will be a seasonal cocktail menu as well as classics, and after-dinner pours like grappa, amaro and limoncello.
Creme brûlée cheesecake
Courtesy of Osteria Bella
Osteria Bella will open for dinner first, with lunch service possible in the future. Furfaro also plans to offer a reservation-only chef’s menu—five courses that change every few months—in addition to the private dinners and themed events that have become part of the family’s following in Marietta.
The Osteria Bella space will undergo a major shift. The Furfaros plan to soften the industrial setting with modern Italian décor, warm lighting, and elegant details, like glassware from Italy. The restaurant will seat about 150 people inside, with room for another 50 on the patio.
The patio
Courtesy of Osteria Bella
Furfaro said he wants the finished restaurant to feel like something diners might seek out in Midtown or Buckhead, but with the hospitality that has defined his family’s first restaurant. Construction is expected to begin soon. When it debuts in October, Osteria Bella will add another Southern Italian option to Halcyon’s dining lineup and give the Furfaros a bigger stage for the food, wine, and family-style hospitality that started in Calabria and found an audience in the Atlanta suburbs.
