Dinner with Friends
A Morehead City restaurant came by its cozy Italian atmosphere honestly.by David Hall
Gloria Pizzuti’s policy on sending compliments to the chef is as illustrative of her straightforward personality as anything could be.
When a diner at Morehead City’s A Taste of Italy wants to thank the preparer of a particularly satisfying dish, Pizzuti obliges in her own inimitable style.
“Why don’t you go back there and tell him yourself?” she says, and a delightful, frequent laugh follows. “Just be careful of the floor. It’s a little slippery.”
Pizzuti, the co-owner and face of the restaurant, isn’t being dismissive. She’s being her personable, charming, hilarious, tell-it-like-it-is self, and she never turns it off.
A Brooklyn native who moved to Italy when she was 18, Pizzuti works the softly lit, handsomely appointed room with a natural ease. She stops at a table and greets a group of regulars out of earshot, with the exception of intermittent bursts of laughter arising from her guests.
Later she sits down with a group and has a glass of wine, and they laugh, too. She jokes with her staff as they walk by in a blur, making them feel less like employees and more like family.
Pizzuti, 53, is part manager, part hostess, part mom and part standup comic. Dinner at the restaurant resembles dinner at her home, and that’s just the way she likes it.
Connoisseurs of exceptional cuisine, fine wine and immoderate merriment can find everything they’re looking for in this quaint, authentically Italian establishment.
Pizzuti and her husband, Francesco, the Italian-born chef, ran the restaurant in Atlantic Beach as Pizzuti’s for five years before changing names and staking out a high-visibility location on Arendell Street three years ago. They renovated the former office building of a grocery store, turning what was a mundane, spartan structure into a cozy draw for lovers of life’s finer things.
Visitors are welcomed through the restaurant’s small bar area before entering the main dining room, which is painted an inviting red. The building’s ordinary facade belies the elegance of the interior. “Once somebody comes in here they say, ‘Oh my God! I could kick myself that I didn’t come earlier,’ ” says Gloria Pizzuti, in a rare moment of semi-seriousness. “You don’t think that you’d come in and you’d see this kind of ambiance when you see the outside of the building.”
The menu includes classic pasta dishes from spaghetti Carbonara to cappellini Bolognese, as well as chicken, veal and seafood creations, the latter of which is the chef’s specialty. A Taste of Italy’s wine list includes many Italian selections to complement both the food and the company.
Like many couples who run restaurants, Gloria Pizzuti works the front of the house while Francesco works the back. The banter between the two goes back and forth, sometimes in English, usually in Italian and serious only when it absolutely has to be.
Asked by a visitor, in the hours before the restaurant opens for the evening, when the two met, Gloria retreats from a dining room table to the swinging kitchen door. She opens it and yells, “How old was I when I met you? How long do I know you?” A muffled, distant answer comes back from her husband.
She returns to the table, sits down and deadpans, “I was 10 days old when I met him.”
Second Nature It would be incorrect to say the Pizzutis have their restaurant’s operation down to a science. That process began decades ago, well before they knew one another.
Gloria Pizzuti grew up working in her family’s New York restaurants, and she likes to say she was in the business before she was born. Her father was a chef, her mother’s father was a chef and a brother and sister are chefs. Her dad cooked on cruise ships until she was about 10, when he opened his first restaurant. When she was 14, he opened an upscale supper club in New Jersey, complete with a stage for live entertainment, a dance floor, two bars and three dining rooms.
This was the genesis of her restaurant experience, where the bug bit her and never let go.
“We just didn’t play,” Gloria, the oldest of four children, says of her childhood. “Play was breading a veal cutlet and then scrambling eggs or making a cake. That’s how we grew up.”
At 18, “ready to move on,” she recalls, Gloria moved to Venice. She was in Italy for 11 years, helping her father and brother run a restaurant there. It was in the mother country that she met Francesco, a police officer four years her junior, in a discotheque. She asked him to dance. He obliged and they’ve been together ever since.
There was just one problem: Francesco’s idea of cooking was making a pot of coffee. They got married anyway and moved from Italy to New Jersey in 1983. While he dabbled in construction, Francesco, who grew up in a suburb of Rome, went to work in her father’s place—without pay—for six months.
With a bit of a practical education in the business, he then ventured out to other restaurants.
“Every couple of months I would change places to learn as much as I can from other people,” Francesco says in his accent through a thick moustache. Adds his wife: “His resume looked like a phone book that year.”
Along the way, Francesco gleaned the art of his homeland’s culinary techniques, which are best left uncomplicated. “Italian food is good when it’s simple, when you can taste all the flavors and ingredients that are in a dish,” says Gloria. “Not one more than another, but they blend together and make this fantastic serenade in your mouth when you eat it.”
The couple opened a restaurant in New Jersey that was similar to their current establishment. Eventually, with a desire to be near the water, they moved South eight years ago and opened Pizzuti’s a few blocks from the beach.
Feeding the Hungry In her youth, Gloria’s father imparted to her and her siblings more than mere technique and business acumen. If a person came in hungry, he told them, it was their obligation as members of a chosen profession to feed them. Occasionally, a customer would come into their New Jersey restaurant and order food without the money to pay for it. Remembering her father’s words, Gloria would feed them anyway.
Telling the story, she grows wistful, somber even, for a moment. It never lasts long. Not wanting potential freeloaders to get the wrong idea, Francesco cracks, “But don’t put that in the magazine,” and laughter erupts as the room’s characteristic lightheartedness is restored.
The exchange is a window into their mirthful relationship. The Pizzutis often speak to each other in a sort of Italian shorthand, condensing entire sentences into a few words, Gloria says. Waitress Kelly Crossett, a 25-year-old native of upstate New York who has worked for the couple for five years and calls herself “the daughter that they adopted,” has the requisite sense of humor to keep up. “They have a pretty humorous relationship,” she says. “I guess if they ever get in a tiff, it’s always in Italian so nobody knows what’s going on.”
The Pizzutis, who usually work late into the night, like to wind down with quiet walks on the beach as the moon shimmers off the water. Gloria grew up around Coney Island, where she would accompany her grandfather as they got mussels off the jetties and took them home for dinner.
Now she does all the cooking at home because Francesco does it for a living. As they do at the restaurant, visitors frequently drop by unannounced and find themselves welcome. “Sometimes it’s right around dinner time,” Gloria says, laughing. “But it’s always nice.”
The laughter trails off and Francesco, standing, looks down at his wife of nearly 25 years, sitting at a table before the dinner crowd rushes in.
“We do have a good time,” he says.
She looks up and responds, “We have a great time.”
Crystal Coast Magazine - crystalcoastmagazine.com -Article
"I am sure there are many who fondly remember Pizzuti’s Restaurant on Atlantic Beach , which opened in late 1999. About a year ago, Gloria and Francesco Pizzuti decided to cross the bridge over to Morehead City and to reopen under the name A Taste of Italy. More brave souls willing to cross the bridge! Hooray!
I had always thoroughly enjoyed dining with the Pizzutis at their Atlantic Beach location. You know, crossing that bridge can have a strange effect on folks, and I was afraid that things would be different at the new location. I must learn to embrace change, however, because this move is a good one.
Instead of being one of those cavernous, loud, cafeteria-like restaurants, the new venue is divided into four very cozy dining rooms, each with an interesting décor. When my Companion-in-Eating (CiE) and I arrived, one of the tenors was singing in the background, and there was a great aroma wafting about. I had a very good feeling about this new location.
As we were being seated, Alyssa, our very congenial and informative waitress, assured us that she was not sure exactly what the Pizzutis were preparing, but it didn’t really matter, because “Everything is wonderful. Very, very fresh and made right here in the kitchen.” She never gets tired of the food…but then what would you expect her to say?
Alyssa placed the favorite antipasto selection in front of us and cautioned us that there was more to come. That’s great advice, but not easy to follow. I love appetizers and I could definitely make a meal out of these!
Let me tell you the fried zucchini and the fried mozzarella do not resemble anything you get in the freezer section of the grocery or in those Italian franchise restaurants. The zucchini is fresh, lightly battered, and delicious dipped in their homemade marinara sauce. Likewise, this is not that store-bought mozzarella, but made right there by Francesco. This is a very difficult and labor-intensive process, but the results are incredible. Either breaded and fried or served with the roasted red peppers (my favorite) it was delicious. Then there was the stuffed eggplant, which we both wanted to wrap up and bring home. There were no stuffed clams left to bring home. We were trying not to overdo. But this is a tough job, as I’ve said before.
We were eager to see what would be next and Francesco did not disappoint. The Scallops al Dragoncello were perfectly cooked, with just a touch of tarragon in the garlic and white wine sauce on a bed of spinach. Equally good was one of the specials that night, a wonderful boneless chicken breast with artichoke hearts and mushrooms in a pink sauce. They were as pretty as they were delicious.
This is obviously a team effort, but desserts are primarily Gloria’s domain. The cannoli was crisp with a rich, velvety cream filling. CiE and I had never had the pannacotta — Italian custard topped with a raspberry sauce; it was out of this world. Not only were they exquisitely presented, but also they were a wonderful way to end a great meal.
In case you haven’t guessed, this is not your pizza pie kind of place. The menu has a nice selection of veal, chicken and seafood dishes, as well as some lovely sounding pasta. So you can take a whole group, vegetarian, calorie commandos, whatever, and there is something delicious for everyone. All entrees are served with a salad and many come with a side order of pasta. Their wine list is reasonable and varied, featuring largely Italian and California vintages.
If you’d like to host your own party, call Gloria and discuss the options.
Sunday and Monday nights they have a wonderful buffet so you can sample ‘til your heart — or tummy — is content and for only $16.95! What sounds like the most fun would be to go on Friday night when they have someone playing the keyboard and singing. Alyssa says it gets pretty crazy because you never know who might join in the singing; waiters, guests, all of the above.
So take your special CiE for great Italian food and atmosphere and perhaps even a little serenade. Buon appetito!"
As seen in This Week Magazine, Carteret Publishing - Article
"The best restaurant on the coast. The buffet is unbelievable."
"Food is fabulous; romantic decor; great service; Italian singers"
Chef moz dining guide, chefmoz.org - Article
A Taste of Italy offers a real treat -- authentic Italian food and continental cuisine right here on the Crystal Coast. Dinner is served with homemade pasta and breads. While there's a variety of options on the menu, folks come back time and time again for the veal you can cut with a fork. On- and off-premise catering is offered for 10 to 400 people. The restaurant is open for dinner Monday through Saturday.
insiders.com - Crystal Coast - Article
"We are regulars and also enjoy thier entertainer when we can see him. Roasted peppers and fresh mozzarella are to die for, steaks and chicken marsala are also on top of out list. Excellent service, food, ambiance. Waitress even suggested a cheaper bottle of wine that was comparable to a much more expensive bottle on thier list. We higly brag on our special place, yes it costs more than Olive Garden, but well worth it. We love Gloria."
"I am so happy that Morehead City has ''authentic Italian food''. I am a good cook learning my skills from my Italian mama,so my husband and I do not go out to eat very often,since I can make wonderful food at home. We decided to go out to dinner for our anniversary to ''A Taste of Italy'' and it was a wonderful experience from the warm greeting of Gloria Pizzutti when we arrived to the soothing sounds of Adrea Bocelli on the sound system then on to the main event the food.
We began with a house salad which was crisp and plentiful with of course oil and vinegar. Then I had Chicken Marsala. This arrived in beautiful plate presentation. The flavors were excellent. The chef used a good Marsala wine,Most resturants use cooking wine which is not the same. My husband had calamari for an appetizer and mussels cooked to perfection. It is difficult to get good calamari in this area most restaurants cook it to a rubbery texture. He then had the Zupa de Pesce, it also was cooked to perfection. If you want to dine on excellent, authentic Italian food A Taste of Italy is the ticket to a wondeful culinary experience! Buon Appetito!"
ncbeaches.com - Crystal Coast / Italian Restaurants - Article
The best Italian restaurant in the area (and one of the best restaurants, period) is A Taste of Italy (formerly Pizzuti's) on 70 in Morehead. Wonderful veal, seafood, pasta.
Atlantic Beach Forum: Best places to eat - tripadvisor.com -Article