"I wanted to make sure Ginko was open and running smoothly before going forward with this," explains Dante Boccuzzi. "It is, and everybody seems to love it."
The news, says Boccuzzi, is that he and business partner Carmela DelBusso will open D. C. Pasta Company — as in Dante and Carmela — in the Strongsville space (12214 Pearl Rd.) that most recently housed Jeff Jarrett's Palate. DelBusso also runs Oggi Ristorante in Broadview heights.
"I don't think the concept was right for Strongsville," Boccuzzi says of the upscale, ambitious cuisine served at Palate. "The idea for this will be for families to able to come and enjoy reasonably priced pasta."
Boccuzzi says that D.C. will serve "real authentic Italian — no bastardized stuff like chicken parm." All pastas and sauces will be from scratch in-house. Diners will be able to mix and match from a number of different noodles and sauces. As is the case at Dante, diners will also be able to choose their portion size, with options including tasting, appetizer, entrée, and perhaps, family-size. No pizzas will be served, he adds.
Additionally, D.C. will offer most pastas and sauces for sale to go from a small retail section near the front of the restaurant.
Mark Cleland, who currently cooks at Lockkeeper's by day and Dante by night, will be chef de cuisine.
Physical changes to the restaurant will ensure a more casual, relaxed setting, notes Boccuzzi. A list of 25 wines for under $25 per bottle promises affordable sipping.
Look for a November opening.
