ACCANTO
Easton, Maryland

Accanto is a new restaurant located in the heart of downtown Easton on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Opened in February by the team behind the popular Piazza Italian Market in collaboration with D.C. hospitality veterans, this small-town trattoria has brought a fresh dose of simple yet sophisticated and seasonal cuisine to its regional dining scene, located about an hour outside of Baltimore and Washington, D.C.

Restaurant | Accanto is a place for good food, drink, and company, run by Piazza owner Emily Chandler with consulting general manager-beverage director Kat Hamidi. Five nights a week, the kitchen turns out an unpretentious menu—simple, delicious, with a keen sense of the seasons, driven by the integrity of their ingredients. Centered around an elegant, uncluttered bar, the 60-seat dining room is full of natural light and features tasteful details like locally made wooden furniture, framed vintage prints, and family heirlooms. Located in the Talbot Town Shopping Center, this unassuming eatery is both an everyday neighborhood restaurant and a culinary destination for something special. Swing in for a quick bite or sit down and stay awhile.

Food | Inspired by Italian tradition and innovated with a modern touch, Accanto is guided by seasonal ingredients. The kitchen pairs both high-quality imports and local provisions—i.e. organic vegetables from nearby Cottingham Farm, fresh-caught Chesapeake Bay rockfish—to imbue its dishes with a sense of time and place. The result is greater than the sum of its parts, surprising guests with an honest, unfussy approach that embraces the pure pleasures of eating. Menus change multiple times a week.

In early spring, trevisano radicchio swims in anchovy vinaigrette with toasted breadcrumbs. House-made tagliatelle is tossed in French butter with wild foraged ramps, topped with 24-month-aged Parmigiano Reggiano. Neapolitan-style pizzas whisk in and out of the wood-fired oven, their long-fermented doughs transformed into signature pies topped with San Marzano DOP tomatoes and fior di latte mozzarella and daily specials dreamed up by Chandler’s husband, self-taught baker Hiram Navarrete.

This food reflects the team’s institutional knowledge, well-executed technique, and established relationships with purveyors, as also exhibited in Piazza next door. (Accanto means “next to” in Italian.)

Drinks | Designed by D.C. food-and-beverage veteran and Capitoline Vermouth and Apertivi co-founder Kat Hamidi, Accanto’s bar program is an embodiment of the restaurant’s culinary ethos. Cocktails are both classic and contemporary, leaning into small-batch spirits and well-balanced layers of flavor, fit for casual happy hours and custom food pairings. A thoughtful wine list showcases the range of regional Italian grapes, with an emphasis on independent, low-intervention, traditional vintners. Staff picks include accessible weeknight labels and rare vintages worth a splurge, available by the glass and bottle. A small selection of imported and craft beers is also served on tap, from Peroni to D.C.’s Other Half Brewing. Expect something for everyone, including several N/A options.

Emily Chandler | Chandler is the owner of Accanto. A Virginia native, she opened the Piazza Italian Market in 2008, evolving a small cheese shop into an in-demand destination with a curated inventory of high-quality culinary ingredients in Easton. Prior to her time on the Eastern Shore, she worked at the esteemed Bedford Cheese Shop in Brooklyn, as well as on a goat cheese farm in upstate New York. With her Italian heritage and deep appreciation for global cuisine, Chandler considers food a vessel for cultivating both community and culture on the shore. Her husband, Hiram Navarrete, a native of Mexico, has been baking bread and developing their house pizza recipe since 2008.

Kat Hamidi | Hamidi is the consulting general manager and beverage director at Accanto. A Rockville native, she is the co-founder of the D.C.-based spirits company Capitoline Vermouth and Apertivi, a hospitality and beverage consultant, and longtime collaborator with Chandler. As Bon Appétit once put it, she is an “O.G. [member] of the D.C. food and bev community,” being the former manager and beverage director at Etto, as well as an alum of other celebrated establishments such as Obelisk. Her drinks are a reflection of her dining-scene tenure, discerning palate, and detail-oriented technique.

Piazza Italian Market | Piazza is a gourmet food store located in downtown Easton. Since 2008, it has become an Eastern Shore institution, drawing customers from across the Mid-Atlantic for meals and market shopping seven days a week. An impressive cheese case stays stocked with premium ingredients from dozens of purveyors, where a knowledgeable staff educates customers on these high-quality and at-times hard-to-find products, identified by region of origin, maker, and flavor. Also find a full espresso bar, fresh sandwiches, and house-made pastries, plus groceries and spirits to go. After nearly two decades, Accanto is the organic extension of this original vision.

WHEN: Accanto is now open to the public, Tues.-Sat., 5 p.m.-last reservation.

WHERE: 218 N. Washington Street, Suite 21, Easton, Maryland, 21601 (next door to Piazza).

CONNECT: @accanto_restaurant on Instagram and Facebook. | www.accanto-easton.com | Walk-ins welcome or book via Resy. | Media: info@accanto-easton.com