BIZ FEATURE: ITALIAN FOOD COMPANY BRINGS A TASTE OF ITALY TO KEY LARGO & ISLAMORADA

Italian Food items Enterprise homeowners Tony and Isis Wright never ever dreamed of opening a restaurant. With a adore for Italy and very good foodstuff arrived an option the two couldn’t move up.

Now, patrons halting by the bar-trattoria fashion restaurant are indulging in genuine southern Italian cuisine, with freshly-manufactured Neapolitan (Naples-design) pizza, delicious boccas that overflow with toppings, a selection of selfmade desserts and extra. 

With outdoor dining beneath lined patios, patrons gaze close to the landscaped backyard as they try to eat lunch and dinner. They sit at Sicilian lava tables imported from the Mt. Etna area. There is even a desk from Tony’s youth.

Opening in July 2021, Isis claimed, the cafe incorporates various things of the Italian delicacies scene. She explained the restaurant has attributes equivalent to that of an Italian bar in which people today come and grab coffee and a croissant in the morning or a rice ball in the afternoon. It is not only a put to get foods, but it is also a area to converse with persons you know. 

The restaurant also provides aspects of an Italian pizzeria as effectively as a trattoria, which Tony describes as an Italian-design taking in establishment that is generally less official than a restaurant. 

“When we launched, we didn’t know if we’d open for breakfast and have paninis, sandwiches and pizzas or if it was likely to be a cafe,” Tony claimed. “We had been heading to permit the restaurant speak to us.”

The COVID-19 pandemic adjusted the training course for the Wrights’ upcoming undertaking. The yr right before, Tony stated the house, previously household to Papa Johns at MM 98 in the median, caught his eye. He wasn’t exactly positive what he’d do with the put if he made a decision to invest in it. But he knew the place experienced possible. 

In March 2020, the Wrights closed on the assets. In just months, the two talked about what would appear up coming. They seemed at the Keys and considered about the things they appreciated. That’s when they turned to their summer time sojourns to Naples, the Amalfi coastline, Sicily and Taormina. The Wrights revel in the blue sea and vivid flowers. They are drawn to classic Italian ingredients, from hearty backyard garden tomatoes and contemporary area herbs to local olive oils and fresh sauce. Sharing the authenticity and heat of traditional Italian trattorias and eaters turned the Wrights’ want. 

Checking out Italian Food items Company is a sensory practical experience, reported Isis. 

“Visually, there are so several gorgeous things from Italy,” Isis claimed. “Then you take in the food and all these flavors burst into your mouth. Italian cooking is quite basic but flavorful due to the fact they just take their time. By the time you end your entire eating experience you experience anything.” 

At Italian Food items Company, all products and solutions are sourced from Italy. Fresh, typical Neapolitan pizza dough, sauce from ripe, vivid tomatoes, fresh new Italian mozzarella and seasonal added virgin olive oil are among the staples. The Neapolitan pizza’s traditional model is marked by its signature characteristic of fresh new seasoned tomato sauce and flash cooked in an oven. 

Tony stated some people consider the pizza is way too juicy in the middle. That is because all the components are refreshing. 

“It has a stunning historical past when we’re conversing about hundreds of a long time building the very same model pizza the very same way forever,” Isis said. “It’s heading to be considerably lighter and thinner in the middle. It’s a Neapolitan, juicy pizza which is eaten with a knife and fork.” 

Italian Food Company’s pizzeria is led by the Wrights and the maestro imported from Italy in learn pizzaiolo Leopoldo Figlioli. And a short while ago, the group included an additional talent with government chef Ben Loftus. He started out his vocation in the Florida Keys about 20 several years in the past, perfecting and bringing French delicacies to distinguished acclaim in the course of his tenure in Islamorada. 

He was a foodie beloved, elevating the eating working experience at Pierre’s to a single of the very best dining establishments in Florida. His subsequent roles with Cheeca Lodge and Spa and The Hungry Tarpon expanded his strategies and types into new American and coastal cuisines. Tony said introducing Loftus will let them to convey some typical and new beloved Italian dishes to the Wrights’ future venture — a new cafe located at the previous Bentley’s in Islamorada. 

“He’s obtained the respect and admiration of quite a few people in the Florida Keys. I get phone calls practically every single working day with legitimate enthusiasm and support for Ben’s new position with us,” Tony stated. 

Loftus stated the Italian Foods Company provides a unique prospect to innovate, expand and deliver a new cultural eating working experience to the Keys. 

“Italian cuisine is fantastically uncomplicated, with so numerous alternatives to delight visitors. We’ve previously reviewed preliminary additions to the menu for Islamorada, and we’ll add specials to the menu as I have accomplished in the past,” Loftus stated. 

The new restaurant in Islamorada will provide indoor dining, two unique sitdown bars and an expanded menu, Isis claimed they are planning to keep the core menu from their Crucial Largo locale inside their new restaurant, but they want to include some seafood dishes. And the Wrights and Loftus explained they are searching to place the previous Bentley’s restaurant again on the map. 

“The making has a experience to it,” Tony claimed. “Everybody will come and tells me tales. Even the aged Bentley’s owner visited below a single working day and requested if there is anything he could do. I claimed it’s possible we can deliver back again a dessert. All people has these fantastic memories of this place.” 

Isis explained the opening of the new restaurant will be in 30 to 60 times. 

Additional data is at italianfoodcompany.com or stick to @theitalianfoodcompany on Instagram.