There are officially two forms of Due Fiori, the rightfully popular, yes-there’s-almost-always-a-line Italian restaurant on 4th Street. There is the classic Due: Papardelle a limone. Carciofi e fagioli. The famed Caesar salad… These items will never go away. They are, if anything, the very DNA that has made Due Fiori such a neighborhood favorite.
But then there is the seasonal Due. This is the one that uses corn, fig, and melon for the summer. And it’s the one that now has rabbit, chanterelles, sage, and pumpkin to welcome in the autumn season.
“There’s no question that the classic Due Fiori menu is remaining,” said co-owner Daniel Flores. “What the seasons do is allow us to expand and explore ever so slightly. It gives our regulars the chance to try something new while allowing our kitchen to showcase offerings beyond the staples.”
With Chef Michael Rudolph at the helm—he hails from Palm Springs’s lauded Bar Issi as well as previous stints in the region, including a role in Il Pesce Cucina, Chef Michael Cimarusti’s former space inside Eataly—it is clear that patrons will look forward to each season at Due Fiori.
A look at Due Fiori’s fall offerings…
From their rotating whipped ricotta and speck dish—for the summer, it was figs; this round, it is red grapes and pomegranate—to one of the best chopped salads inspired by Chef Nancy Silverton to some stellar Gundagai lamb chops served Scottaditto-style.
Red grapes and speck ($17): Roasted red grapes | Whipped ricotta | Pomegranate | Saba | Mint
Two Flowers Chopped ($20): Raddichio | Caciocavallo | Mortadella | Soppresata | Chickpeas | Fresh oregano
Coniglio casarecce ($28): Rabit ragù | Roasted sweet pepper | Calabrian chile | White wine | Basil | Parmigiano reggiano
“Il fungo” pizza ($28): Long Beach mushrooms chanterelles | Delicata squash | Carmelized onion | Taleggio cream | Pomegranate agrodolce | Fried sage
Gundagai lamb chops ($48): Lemon yogurt | Fregola sarda | Pumpkin seed pesto | Pomegranate | Mint
Fiore di Sambuco ($18; right): Falanghina | Grapefruit | Elderflower | Stellare Secondo Aperitivo
Rosso e Cannella ($18; left): Nebbiolo | Cinnamon | Lemon | Cueva Nueva Vermut
Why Due Fiori works—and why that matters in an industry plagued with uphill battles.
Daniel and his partner, Gianna Johns, grasp something very evident at both Baby Gee and Due Fiori: do fewer things, but execute them exceptionally well. Instead of chasing trends or overextending itself with encyclopedic menus, Due Fiori remains tightly edited.
Just as important is the atmosphere the pair have cultivated. Baby Gee succeeded because it never attempted to be exclusive despite its industry acclaim. The pair built a bar where hospitality outweighed hype. And, even more, quality never translated into pretension. Due Fiori carries that exact same DNA into a restaurant setting.
There is also something quietly significant about what Due Fiori represents for Long Beach. Daniel and Gianna doubled down on the city they already helped shape through Baby Gee, investing in another independently owned concept that reflects Long Beach’s own personality rather than attempting to imitate somewhere else. In doing so, they preserved a restaurant address that has served the neighborhood for years while giving it an entirely new identity rooted in California hospitality and Italian comfort.
Perhaps that’s why Due Fiori already feels like it’s always been there. Not because it’s recreating nostalgia, but because it understands what makes neighborhood restaurants endure while firmly gripping and owning their identity.
Great food certainly matters. So do thoughtful drinks and beautiful spaces. But what ultimately transforms a restaurant into a community staple is creating somewhere people want to return to again and again.
Due Fiori is located at 2708 E. 4th St.
