Mangia E Bevi

During Covid closures, the Trupiano family sustained their contemporary Italian ristorante by providing wholesome, customer-funded meals to those in need. Today, their dining room is back in full swing, delighting regulars with handcrafted pasta entrees and Neapolitan pizzas, authentically prepared as they are in Italy.

To stand out from the crowd, Tore Trupiano chose not to offer Italian- American dishes widely available elsewhere. While this sometimes surprises newcomers, it also delights his regulars. Instead, his quarterly one-page menu offers a short-list of seasonal regional Italian dishes, plus a few house favorites.

Limiting his menu to ten pasta entrees allows Tore’s chef to get really good at coaxing unique flavors from a handful of seasonal recipes. It also ensures that “limited edition” ingredients are promptly used, ensuring optimal freshness. For menu appeal, Tore seeks uniquely flavorful dishes which also satisfy a range of customer dietary preferences. For example, his panelle Sicilian fried chickpea fritters are not just especially tasty antipasti, they also delight vegetarians.

Reworking his menu quarterly gives Tore many advantages. It allows him to highlight seasonal produce at its peak, like hearty pumpkin and squash recipes this fall.It also encourages Tore to reevaluate the sales and profit performance of every dish quarterly.

To do this, Tore reviews the previous quarter’s sales counts by item provided by his POS. Slower, lower margin items are weeded out to make room for newcomers. New items are added and attractively described. Then all menu prices are adjusted to match rising business costs. Finally, the new menu pages are laser printed in-house and slipped into vinyl covers, keeping the process cost-effective, quick, and easy.

To visually emphasize his ristorante’s attention to detail, Tore doesn’t just mention using house-made pasta in his menu. Instead, he puts his pasta maker in full view of dining guests, busily hand rolling, cutting, and shaping various specialty noodles, throughout their entire meal.

Located near the coast, Tore’s restaurant also specializes in ultrafresh seafood. But supply-chain issues have kept his vendor from dependably delivering specific species. So rather than forcing servers to periodically apologize “We are currently out of Branzino,” his seafood offerings now promise a nonspecific “freshest catch of the day” prepared in an authentic style.

By specializing in authentic, ultra-fresh offerings and warm, personalized service, business remains strong for the Trupiano Family! Bravo!