Forty seats
Why the room is small on purpose, what that means for getting a table, and why the kitchen is close enough that you can hear the pans.
There are forty seats. That number is the single biggest decision anyone made about this restaurant, and everything else follows from it.
One service, not a shift
A room this size runs one service a night rather than turning tables against a clock. Nobody is going to appear beside you with the check while you still have wine in your glass. If you booked at seven and you are still talking at ten, that was the plan.
It also means the kitchen is close. You can hear the pans and the oven door, and Chef Fabrizio Facchini is generally within sight of the pass. If you want to know what is in something, or what he would order, ask. He would much rather you asked than guessed.
What it means for booking
Forty seats fill. The book opens thirty days ahead, and Friday and Saturday go first, so if you have a night you can move, move it: a Tuesday or a Wednesday at Stellina is the same kitchen with more of our attention.
We also hold a small number of bar seats and bar-top tables for walk-ins most evenings. A pizza and a glass at the bar is a perfectly good evening here, and it is worth trying your luck on a night the dining room is gone.
Regulars keep their table
The other thing forty seats buys is memory. We learn where you like to sit and what you drink, and after a few visits nobody has to ask. That is not a program with a card in it. It is just what happens in a room small enough to notice.