West Asheville's new Italian restaurant set to open with limited services
ASHEVILLE - A West Asheville restaurant will make its official debut on March 18, serving pasta, pizzas, calzones and craft drinks for the whole family.
Amicizia, a new Italian restaurant, will open with services limited to takeout and delivery at 1341 Patton Ave. The soft opening is to allow the restaurant team time to practice and ease into operations, said co-founder Ben Logan.
Logan is opening the restaurant with co-founder/head of front of house Susanna Riposta and chef Loraine Altomare.
“We want to get the food right. To that end, we want to start small,” Logan said. “The best way to get our kitchen up to par is to dry run things — have some surprise orders, some floods of orders and tinker with things to make sure the kitchen is good.”
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Only takeout and delivery will be offered from 4-10 p.m. March 18-20.
Amicizia will be closed Monday and Tuesday then resume takeout and delivery services only 11 a.m.-10 p.m. March 23-27.
Full dine-in service is tentatively scheduled to begin March 30. The restaurant’s regular hours will be 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Wednesdays-Mondays and closed on Tuesdays.
The wine and cocktail menus are being fine-tuned in preparation for dining room guests, Logan said. The bar will serve beer, too, and nonalcoholic options will be available, including mocktails and mixed drinks created for kids.
The dining menu will offer options to people with allergies or dietary restrictions, such as vegan or gluten-free, Logan said.
“The key part of being open and available for groups to come together is having a broad menu both on the food and on the drinks side,” Logan said. “We’re trying to make it easy for pretty much everyone to have something here that they like on the menu.”
Chef Loraine Altomare’s family recipes, which were passed down over several generations, add to the authenticity of the Italian fare, Logan said.
Among the classic Italian entrees are chicken Marsala and lasagna Positano, which has “a good, hearty meat sauce in it,” he said.
As the restaurant inches toward its grand opening, select guests were invited for private tastings which have given insight as to what customers want.
“What people have loved in our tastings — we have a pappardelle with wild mushrooms,” Logan said. “People think that’s fantastic. Every time we have a tasting it gets ordered and we run out almost as quickly as people come in and sit down.”
The dish includes herbs in a mushroom broth with cashew ricotta and extra virgin olive oil.
Guests may choose to customize their entrée by choosing from several choices of pasta, sauce and protein add-ons. The menu features pizza and calzones made with in-house dough.
“I think Italian food is also very accessible,” Logan said. “It’s obviously the most popular cuisine in the world. Hopefully, there is something here for everyone. That’s our goal.”
Amicizia translates to “friendship” in Italian, which sets the restaurant’s mission. Logan aims to build upon the foundation of togetherness established by the former tenants, Barbecue Inn and Byrish Haus and Pub.
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“We’ve got people coming in here every day looking at things and talking about the old Barbecue Inn,” Logan said. “A lot of people have some very warm memories of this space. It was always kind of a family location. We’re excited to pick up and serve the community here — by that, I mean locals and people living nearby.”
Amicizia’s renovation project called for redecorating the interior, outfitting the kitchen with new equipment and bringing the site up to zoning compliance after the building was vacant for a couple of years, he said.
Outdoor dining is expected to open in late April.
If you go
What: Amicizia
Where: 1341 Patton Ave., Asheville
Regular Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Wednesdays-Mondays and closed on Tuesdays beginning March 30.
Info: For more updates and details, visit amiciziarestaurant.com.
Tiana Kennell is the food and dining reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at tkennell@citizentimes.com or follow her on Twitter/Instagram @PrincessOfPage. Please help support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: New Amicizia Italian restaurant prepares for soft opening in Asheville
