Jon & Vinny's, The Animal Guys' Project at Damiano Pizza

[Photo: Eater]

Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo sit down with Eater National to discuss the progress of Petit Trois, which is planning to open imminently, while dishing out details on Jon & Vinny's, the name of their project going into the former Damiano Pizza spot on Fairfax. In development for two-and-a-half years, the "shared space" will serve multitude of functions: a wine shop, offices, catering space, and eventually a replicable concept that's not quite as "aggressive" as Animal or Son of a Gun.

The wine shop, which will delivery beer & wine around the neighborhood, is headed by partner Helen Johannesen, director of operations/beverage director at Animal. The upstairs will serve as offices for Shook and Dotolo's burgeoning restaurant empire, while the catering operations that have currently worked out of Animal's kitchen, will move into the Damiano space.

And finally, the duo is hoping to debut Jon & Vinny's as a stand-alone concept that will try to make it more approachable. Says Shook:

"I think a lot of people have a fear of eating at Animal ... because we're so branded as the Animal chefs that they're almost scared of us in a weird way. One thing that we've been working on a lot internally is how do you present something that might not feel so aggressive but still be as full-flavored as Animal or Son of Gun?"