Sneak preview of Dave Mancini's new restaurant Monday

Is there a restaurant owner in town with a better name than Dave Mancini? Head honcho at Supino Pizzeria, he hasn't just made excellent pies, judged by locals to be among the best, he's also opened his kitchen to many local food upstarts. Porktown Sausage, Neighborhood Noodle, Katie's Cannoli and several other small producers have benefited from working with him, using his space for production or sales. And yet Mancini is so humble he probably wouldn't want to talk about it.

He's also been slowly working to open a restaurant next door to his pizzeria, La Rondinella. Mancini has toiled on preparing the space for quite some time now, and the fare will be more straight-ahead Italian. And Mancini's fans are full of anticipation.

Curious diners can get a taste of what's to come on Monday at Motor City Wine, where Mancini will run a dinner called Fuochi d'artificio, which is Italian for "fireworks" (a reference to the fireworks taking place on the river that night). Last we heard, the menu was subject to change, but was to include ricotta gnocchi with chopped sautéed scapes and speck crumbles, bacala fritters with chili aioli, mixed greens with hazelnuts, grape tomato, and labna vinaigrette, tarragon roasted potatoes, and meatballs in tomato sauce.

The dinner runs from 6 to 9 p.m. on Monday, June 22, at Motor City Wine, 1949 Michigan Ave., Detroit; 313-483-7283; motorcitywine.com; no reservations necessary; dishes a la carte while supplies last.