Greg Vernick opens fourth restaurant Emilia
- Philadelphia chef Greg Vernick has opened Emilia, a new Italian restaurant on Frankford Avenue in Fishtown-East Kensington, marking his fourth restaurant and his first new opening since Vernick Fish debuted in 2019. - Emilia opened in late January with handmade pastas, crudo, antipasti, and wood-fired dishes, and is led day-to-day by chef de cuisine Meredith Medoway, Vernick’s longtime collaborator. - The opening pushes Vernick beyond Center City for the first time and adds another high-profile name to the Fishtown-Kensington dining corridor. (vernickphilly.com) (phillyvoice.com)
Greg Vernick has opened Emilia, a new Italian restaurant on Frankford Avenue in Philadelphia’s Fishtown-East Kensington corridor. (vernickphilly.com) (phillyvoice.com) The restaurant is Vernick’s fourth, after Vernick Food & Drink, Vernick Fish, and Vernick Coffee Bar, and his first new opening since Vernick Fish launched in 2019. (vernickphilly.com) (phillyvoice.com) PhillyVoice reported in January that Emilia was set to open on Monday, January 26, 2026, at 2406 Frankford Avenue. Resy lists the restaurant at that address and says it takes reservations and also keeps some walk-in space at the bar, drink rail, and lounge tables. (phillyvoice.com) (resy.com) Emilia is an Italian restaurant, but not a red-sauce throwback. Resy describes the menu as centered on seasonality, lighter flavors, handmade pastas, crudo, antipasti, and wood-fire grilling. (resy.com) (blog.resy.com) The kitchen is led by chef de cuisine Meredith Medoway, whom Resy and other coverage identify as a longtime Vernick collaborator. Greg Vernick remains the marquee name, but Emilia appears built as a joint expression of his and Medoway’s travels in Italy. (resy.com) (blog.resy.com) The project also shifts Vernick geographically. His earlier restaurants were tied to Center City and the Four Seasons Philadelphia, while Emilia is his first restaurant outside Center City. (vernickphilly.com) (appetitomagazine.com) That move places a James Beard Award-winning chef into one of Philadelphia’s busiest restaurant growth corridors. Resy’s March dining guide said Emilia was already booking weeks in advance after opening. (blog.resy.com) Vernick won the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic for Vernick Food & Drink, the flagship restaurant that opened in 2012. His company site now presents Emilia as the newest addition to that group. (vernickphilly.com) (resy.com) The Inquirer’s weekend profile described Emilia as a fresh opening for Vernick at a moment when he was also reflecting on his next chapter. In the restaurant world, the simpler fact is this: after years without a debut, Greg Vernick has added a new address and a new neighborhood to his map. (inquirer.com)
