Wahlberg brothers make plans to open a new pizzeria

According to an article from The Patriot Ledger, the Wahlbergs have plans to open a 3rd restaurant in Hingham Shipyard: a pizza place called Pizzeria Diccianove. They plan to renovate the former Pizzapalooza building and open next spring. Here is the article:

Wahlberg brothers cook up plans for a new pizzeria at the Hingham Shipyard
When chef Paul Wahlberg was about to open his first restaurant back in June 2010, he told me he was taking a big risk launching a business during a rough economy.

Today, I’m sure he would say that gamble has paid off, big time. Wahlberg’s first restaurant, Alma Nove, opened in the redeveloped Hingham Shipyard, and almost instantly became one of the busiest restaurants on the South Shore.

He obviously had some help from the star power of brothers Mark Wahlberg and Donnie Wahlberg. The Wahlberg brothers and friend Ed St. Croix teamed up this fall to open a second restaurant in the shipyard, Wahlburgers. That restaurant has also been quite busy in its first few weeks.

But the partners aren’t stopping there. They are now moving ahead with plans to open a pizza place at the Hingham Shipyard, in the home of the short-lived Pizzapalooza. Leslie Cohen, senior vice president of development for landlord Samuels & Associates, says Pizzapalooza closed in May after roughly a year in business, and the Wahlberg team has taken over the lease.

The Wahlbergs, Cohen says, are now shooting for a spring opening for Pizzeria Diccianove. She says the name – Italian for 19 – has a simple origin: It’s the address for the pizzeria. The name also echoes Alma Nove, a name that refers to the Wahlbergs’ mother and her nine children.

Cohen says the pizza shop has been in the works for some time, but the Wahlbergs decided to focus first on getting the burger joint open. She says the Wahlbergs still need to renovate the 1,800-square-foot interior, but she expects that will be done in time for a spring opening.

Cohen says Paul Wahlberg will bring the same attention to quality to the new pizzeria that he has brought to the other two restaurants. She also says he’ll reap the benefits of some economies of scale from having three restaurants in the same complex.