Brad Daniels, a Culinary Institute of America graduate and alum of Vetri, an award-winning restaurant in Philadelphia, has made an impressive solo debut with his new restaurant Tresini in Ambler, writes Craig LaBan for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The meals Daniels creates are refined versions of seasonally inspired Italian flavors that also bring rustic satisfaction in dishes such as the rigatoni with a fennel-dusted pork rib ragù intensified by porcini.

“If everyone has a spirit pasta shape, rigatoni is mine,” said Daniels. “It’s short, stout, and rough around the edges, but it holds all the sauce together. Sort of the way I am with people.”

Daniels has partnered with John Krinis, a developer, and a third silent partner to buy the old Ristorante San Marco and the 2.5-acre lot it sits on.

Together with line cook Angel Lopez, he spent months demolishing and restoring parts of the historic 1860 building. The goal was to reveal the Wissahickon field stone hidden under thousands of pounds of stucco to give Tresini’s ambiance a sturdy old sense of place.

The patrons have responded to both the ambiance and food, and have been happily filling the 100-seat space after it opened in the spring.

Read more about Tresini in The Philadelphia Inquirer.