Ciao! Pizza and Pasta Will Bring the Wood-Fired Trend to Chelsea

Ciao! is coming to Chelsea sometime this summer, and Boston Restaurant Talk noted the venture has a connection to L'Andana, a Tuscan grill in Burlington. An employee at that restaurant confirmed Ciao! is not affiliated with the Columbus Restaurant Group that runs her establishment, but that L'Andana's former chef, Marvin Posada, is opening the new pizzeria.

In the works at 59 Williams St., Posada and team anticipate being the first wood-fired pizzeria in Chelsea. The shop will also have homemade pasta, panini, and catering options. The dine-in restaurant will also offer take-out and delivery, according to its under-construction website.

Wood-fired pizza is perennially popular, and several such spots have opened or expanded locally in the past couple years, such as Stoked, a wood-fired hearth-on-wheels; Pastoral in Forth Point; The Brewer's Fork, a wood- and brick-oven haven in Charlestown; Mario Batali's first Boston venture, Babbo Pizzeria e Enoteca in the Seaport; and Bambolina Pizzeria, which opened in Salem earlier this summer. The new Jack's Abby taproom in Framingham, which is eyeing a September debut, will have a wood-fired pizza restaurant, too.

The Ciao! team was anticipating a mid-July debut last month, so a grand opening may be imminent.