Typically when a restaurant wants a makeover, the management or kitchen staff is changed or the menu is changed. Sometimes even the interior is gutted and redone. But Vittorio’s Italian Cuisine not only changed its name, it moved across town. Vittorio’s is located on East Boulevard in Dilworth. Owner Vittorio Murillo reopened in this location last October having moved from his Chelsea’s location near the intersection of Albemarle Road and North Sharon Amity last May. Murillo decided to change the name of the restaurant because Chelsea “didn’t sound Italian.” Chelsea’s was one of Charlotte’s older restaurants and had seen a few changes of ownership. Murillo says that he owned Chelsea’s for three or four years.
Murillo’s new venture is located in a large, historic house that has seen its share of restaurants: Eli’s, Castaldi’s, and most recently, Zanzibar Hardwood Grille. During an earlier point in its life, this building was a boarding house where author Carson McCullers began writing The Heart is a Lonely Hunter.
Murillo is third generation Italian who grew up in the countryside of Ecuador. He arrived in Charlotte in the late 1990s after a stint in a Miami kitchen. “My grandparents were from Italy,” he says. He learned to cook from his grandmother and mother, but considers his mentor and teacher a Sicilian native who owned a restaurant in Ecuador where he worked for a few years.
“My philosophy in cooking is you have to get knowledge all the time. I describe my food like this: I like to put my personal (touch) into the cooking and try to be very original. I think my style is leaning more towards northern Italian, but still have much of the South, and some dishes are more Americanized,” Murillo comments.
Old houses lend themselves to small charming rooms and secluded kitchens. Vittorio’s is no exception. The restaurant, which currently seats 90, has an additional 40 seats on the side patio and a second floor which can be opened in the future. In the front is a small, glass-enclosed porch with hanging baskets of artificial flowers and a clutch of tables. Interior rooms have fireplaces, which were not lit, and appointments that are haphazard. Empty wine bottles line some walls and mismatched furniture says budget. A large Roman-style mural fills one dining area wall while multi-themed prints and photographs are scattered throughout the restaurant. Tables are covered in linen but topped with plastic tablecloths, and the silverware does not have that substantial feel nor the size that many newer restaurants choose. But the prices are not shy. Entrees range from $10.95 for rigatoni with spinach, peas, and sun-dried tomatoes to $24.95 for a grilled veal chop.
Vittorio’s is not your nonna’s home-styled, traditional cooking Italian restaurant. For starters, the marinara sauce has a herbaceous kick to it. Murillo notes this sauce is his grandmother’s recipe and a closely guarded secret.
For Murillo, it is a long day. He makes everything, which you may agree is a bit ambitious when tasting the olive bread. Rarely have I met a chef who can master bread, pastries, and entrees. Besides isn’t crusty rustic bread a necessity with Italian dishes? How else can you scoop up and savor the different sauces? Why bother with balsamic and oil on the table?
Many of the items on Vittorio’s menu are the Chianti-flask favorites with a twist: lasagna bolognese, veal sambuca, and a list of chicken breast items. But the touchstone tastes of housemade mozzarella and tomatoes, and Italian bean soup are here as well as a dozen or so large portioned pasta dishes.
We started with the tender black mussels bathed in a spicy basil and wine sauce. Next up were the tender cuts of calamari in his secret recipe marinara. Both dishes cried out for scooping bread.
Murillo’s strength is in his entrees. The ever so thin veal scaloppini had a soft explosion of shiitake mushrooms muted by a delicately finished Madeira sauce. This dish was, however, plated in the old style 10 o’clock, 2 o’clock, and 4 o’clock arrangement with a serving of carrots, green beans, and broccoli hanging at the 10 position. Another bankable main course was the Gamberetto Portofino. Here the capellini was ringed with an abundance of tender shrimp, then dotted with capers and feta and sauced with a lemon butter — a great dish.
After the large portions of the entrees, you might opt to skip dessert, which would be a good thing since the desserts are both massive and overly sweet. The tiramisu was piled with yards of mascarpone cheese and covered in ground cinnamon. The cannoli fared better, but not by that much.
The lengthy wine list focuses on Italian selections, which is great, but there is a shortage on the lower price end. This is a major flaw which should be fixed, especially given the economic climate and the fact that Italy makes tons of great wine in this category.
Although Murillo circulates throughout the dining rooms ebulliently greeting his customers with “Bellisimo,” your server may not be so attentive. When I first arrived, our server announced the specials in an extremely loud voice. His roll call seemed endless. We subsequently heard this verbal recitation with each successive table’s arrival. By the end of the evening every diner in the section could have aced a test on those specials, and in fact one table offered help when the server seemed stumped during one recital. Small rooms should be easy for a server. Emptied wineglasses should be quickly refilled; missing utensils should be replaced. Murillo works too hard to let his servers come between his food and the diner.
When Castaldi’s faded and left, people hoped another restaurant would blossom and stay for a while in this old house. With some fine tuning, Vittorio Murillo may be onto something.
Vittorio’s Italian Cuisine, 311 East Boulevard, 704-344-8799. Hours: Tuesday through Thursday from 5pm until 10pm, Friday and Saturday 5pm until 11pm, and Sunday 5pm until 10pm. Lunch hours are 11am until 3pm Tuesday through Saturday. AmEx, MC, Visa, Diner’s, Dis. Patio to open in spring.
H-T Dumps Local Bakeries
Just as Charlotteans are buying more and more locally produced foods, Harris Teeter announced they will phase out locally made breads in their 30 company stores. Company spokeswoman Jessica Graham said each of the four bakeries Harris Teeter used were given a 12-week “exit strategy” notice in December. Charlotte’s only two artisanal bakeries, Metropolitan Bakery and Nova’s Bakery, are affected. Nova’s last date in Harris Teeter is February 25. Owner Fran Scibelli of Metropolitan hasn’t been given a definite date. Potential losses for each bakery are estimated to be in the quarter-million dollar range.
Instead of carrying locally baked bread, Harris Teeter will now carry only foreign-owned, California-made La Brea Bred as their premium bread. Graham commented, “There were several reasons (for discontinuing the local bakeries). La Brea Bread is currently 92 percent of the crusty bread business.” Other factors she cited were the inconsistencies in delivery from the local bakeries, Harris Teeter’s ability to control delivery of the La Brea product, and the ability of individual stores to maintain better in-stock selection. Finally, Graham noted that each Harris Teeter would offer the same bread and this would “give us more consistency.”
Ironically, it was Chef Nancy Silverton’s La Brea Bakery, which opened in Los Angeles in 1989, that started the national trend towards local artisanal bakeries. In the mid-90s La Brea was approached about sending frozen dough to more distant locations. Frozen bread is tricky since freezing dough slowly kills yeast. In 1998, La Brea developed a par-baked process; the breads are 80 percent baked, than flash frozen and shipped to retail stores and restaurants to be finished. In 2001, IAWS Group, plc., an Irish company, bought an 80 percent stake of La Brea in 2001 for $68.5 million.
Sladjana Novakovic of Nova’s bakery said, “We are concerned about having all these different locations shut down for our customers. Some of them live in Rock Hill, Weddington, and Piper Glen.”
Scibelli began her relationship with Harris Teeter in their Morrocroft location in 1997. “Sales have been consistent since then,” she noted. “Until last year.”
Last year, La Brea Bread was introduced and priced lower than Metropolitan’s. Frequently La Brea bread is the weekly VIC card special or is offered as a twofer. Aware of her price disadvantage, Scibelli said she talked to the Harris Teeter management about lowering the prices of her breads, but was told that even if she reduced the wholesale price, the retail price would remain the same. When asked, Grahams said Harris Teeter would not raise the price of La Brea breads after the local bakery breads are discontinued.
About a year ago, Novakovic said La Brea executives requested a tour of her facilities. She complied. Scibelli also was asked for a tour by La Brea, but did not agree. She believes, though, that La Brea executives visited her facilities last year.
* Harris Teeter customer service line is 800-432-6111.
* Metropolitan Bakery, 810 Fairview Road, in Foxcroft Shopping Center, 704-362-1660. Bread also sold in Reid’s, Dean and Deluca, and Pasta and Provisions.
* Nova’s Bakery, 1511 Central Avenue, 704-333-5566. Breads also sold in Reid’s 7th Street, Farmer’s Market, Pasta and Provisions, Dean & Deluca, Ferrucci’s Old Tyme Italian Market in Cornelius, and the new Pineville Farmers Market in Black Lion.
Tasty Tidbits
Owner Pecle Debremussie is celebrating his one year anniversary at Red Sea, 206 East Independence Boulevard, by offering all entrees at half price on Saturday and Sunday, February 2 and 3, from noon until midnight. Entrees are normally priced from $8 to $17. For the rest of February, entrees will be 20 percent off. 704-375-4999.
This article appears in Feb 2-8, 2002.
