PHOTOS: STAGIONI INSTAGRAM PAGE

More bad news for Pittsburgh restaurant-goers. Stagioni, Stephen Felder and Cara DelSignore’s beloved South Side eatery, will close at the end of June. 

“It wasn’t COVID related. We did a good job dealing with the situation and felt like we were chameleons reacting to everything that got put into play and the obstacles in front of us. We kept our staff safe. We did outdoor events with our neighbors Acacia. Our customers supported us with takeaway. We made it through a lot of hard times and felt positive about how we did it,” DelSignore says. 

“What the pandemic did do was it changed our schedule. It got Stephen home to see the girls at bath time and bedtime. We were able to do things that we couldn’t have done before as a family and that helped us gain perspective on what we thought was important. We wanted to find a different way to navigate our lives. Closing the restaurant is heartbreaking, but we know it’s the right thing to do right now,” DelSignore says, noting that they plan to stay involved in Pittsburgh’s hospitality industry.

The announcement of Stagioni’s closing came on the same day the U.S. Senate voted down the Small Business COVID Relief Act of 2022, which included a $40 million replenishment of the Restaurant Revitalization Fund. The failure to pass the measure effectively ended the hopes of independent restaurants to obtain additional federal financial relief from the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. 

The duo — Felder is the chef and DelSignore runs front-of-house and the bar program — opened Stagioni in Bloomfield in 2009 and moved the establishment to its current East Carson Street location in 2012. Felder’s Italian menu, including hits such as made-to-order mozzarella, fried smelts and braised meatballs, coupled with DelSignore’s hospitality, built a loyal following for the restaurant in both locations during its 12-year run. 

Stagioni shone exceptionally bright when it fostered group gatherings over meals such as its monthly family-style Sunday suppers and annual events such as Feast of the Seven Fishes, which ranked among the best permutations of the Christmas Eve meal in Pittsburgh. And it was among the very few (perhaps the only regularly) to offer the springtime ritual of Le Virtu, the 49-ingredient soup from the Abruzzo region that represents the transition from winter to spring. (DelSignore’s family is from Abruzzo.)

“We’re so proud of what we’ve done. We love all the people we met and all the staff that worked for us. We’re so proud of the dishes we’ve made and the friendships we’ve made with other chefs and restaurant owners,” DelSignore says. 

The restaurant is open for dinner Thursdays through Sundays and will offer takeaway service through the end of May. Felder and DelSignore will introduce a “Stagioni’s Greatest Hits” menu in the first week of June. That menu will include dishes such as olive-oil poached octopus with romesco and polenta, butternut squash arancini, escarole salad with gorgonzola cheese and hazelnuts and a dish from the original menu — braciole with pappardelle. Stagioni will close on June 24. 

2104 E. Carson St., South Side; 412/586-4738, stagionipgh.com