Buca di Beppo in Dupont Circle has taken on another identity as a delivery-only “phantom kitchen” selling cheesesteak egg rolls, “Parm-eroni” chicken, Flavortown fries and other items affiliated with everyone’s favorite bombshell chef. Guy Fieri’s Flavortown Kitchen restaurant is taking orders from the same address on Connecticut Avenue NW as the Italian restaurant chain.
ONE Popville reader flagged the virtual kitchen this week, and the Boston blogosphere reported sightings of jalapeno pork chippers there. The Fieri’s Flavortown Kitchen website lists locations in 23 states outside the district, including one outside Buca di Beppo in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and one outside a Brio Italian Grill in a Fairfax, Virginia, mall.
These Italian restaurants are under the aegis of Robert Earl, who founded Planet Hollywood and was previously CEO of Hard Rock Cafe. Earl is co-owner of Virtual Dining Concepts, the ghost kitchen company behind Flavortown Kitchen and other celebrity delivery brands like the biscuit company Mariah Carey and chicken bites by rapper Tyga (both available in the same Dupont kitchen) . Incoming Virtual Dining Concepts brands include an Italian Jersey Shore star Pauly D and a Mario Lopez pie company (also known as AC Slater). Eater contacted Virtual Dining Concepts for more information about the operation.
Earl is also a partner in Fieri’s fried chicken chain, Chicken Guy! The ghost kitchen sells a fried chicken sandwich from the same brand, which opened an outpost inside FedEx Field to feed Washington Football Team fans in 2019. An assessment of Washington Post described the chicken guy! sandwich like a “10-car pileup” produced by overworked concession workers, but it also said that “donkey sauce” is a delicious aioli sauce.
In addition to the bunch of small local restaurants that have received a boost from phantom cuisines, the DC area also offers fried chicken sandwiches just for delivery from David Chang’s Fuku, which are set up in a Reef Kitchens trailer in Arlington.