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He’s got a lot on his plate these days.
Anthony Vitolo, the executive chef and family owner of celebrity-packed Houston Street red sauce joint Emilio’s Ballato, is taking his talents to Long Island.
Vitolo will be opening a Nassau County supper club in late October with a close friend who was ready to ditch the industry before hearing an offer he couldn’t refuse.
“We decided to go into business while having a drink at 2 in the morning,” said Vitolo, 35.
He’s teaming up with well-known local chef Salvatore Sorrentino to launch the upscale eatery named Vitolo-Sorrentino out of the now-gutted ITA Kitchen space in Garden City — a hotspot Sorrentino recently sold his ownership shares in.
The idea was born after Vitolo’s longtime pal shut down the location and still had months left on its lease.
With ITA shuttered, Sorrentino wanted to find a creative way to make revenue and asked the Wantagh-raised Vitolo about doing a pop-up night, which became a raving hit after only a day of planning.
“All my people that I grew up with in Wantagh have been dying for me to come out to Long Island,” said Vitolo, whose family business’ clientele includes the likes of Taylor Swift, Aaron Judge, Barack Obama, Jaxson Dart, and past names such as John Lennon and Andy Warhol.
“We did it, and it was literally like a symphony — an orchestra.”
Their smooth-sailing August event had staff from the two chefs’ restaurants harmoniously serving up “heavy hitters” and secret menu items from Ballato’s, like chicken scarpariello wings and thin pounded Vitello Antonio veal chop.
“Once I saw how it was flowing, I knew we should do this,” Sorrentino said. “It just brings the love back.”
The fellas went to the restaurant’s bar for a nightcap, clinked glasses, and the rest was history.
“I stepped in there, and it was just my kind of kitchen,” Vitolo added.
They ran a second, line-out-the-door pop-up — this time teaming up with their friends at the viral Dario’s of West Hempstead — where the Ballato’s chef called up staff from his Fort Lauderdale restaurant, Vitolo, into the mix for further proof of concept.
For that round, they featured his iconic tagliatelle Bolognese and Sorrentino’s savory fried capellini amatriciana.
Those are a few items that will make the hybrid menu at Vitolo-Sorrentino — along with Ballato’s meatballs and some experimental dishes like a chicken cordon bleu cacio e pepe that he says was a grand slam at the tasting.
“That night all the staff that we had asked, ‘Can we do this permanently?’” said Vitolo, who now lives in Smithtown.
“By then we absolutely knew we had to go for it.”
Just when I thought I was out …
Both skilled chefs agree that they agree on everything — especially making a complete overhaul to the ITA space, which will seat around 120.
The former decor’s vibe was like a classier version of the Rainforest Cafe — a massive giraffe head hanging from faux ivy walls, neon signage and a decorative tree in the middle of the main dining room.
Sparklers were served with dessert — or even chicken parmesan if patrons asked nicely — and house music bumped to celebrate birthdays at the fun-loving eatery near Adelphi University.
Sorrentino said he threw out a few thousand dollars’ worth of the old furnishings and is looking to give the giraffe head a new home to anyone interested.
They’re now going for a much more chic, red-velvet-style interior.
“We’re going to make it a classy, Italian sit-down restaurant,” said Vitolo, who anticipates A-listers living on Long Island’s Gold Coast will drop by.
He still plans to split time between Garden City and New York City to run Balatto’s with his father, Emilio, and brothers Mario and Emilio Jr. once the new spot is up and running.
“If I need help, they will be here, and they will help me. But right now, it’s just me and Sal,” he said.
Vitolo wasn’t originally earmarked for the family business and instead was supposed to play defensive line for Hofstra University in 2010 — but the school cut its football program in his first year.
He still attended Hofstra, but with much more free time to take a job as a barback at Mateo’s in Bellmore, which Sorrentino’s family owned and tasked Salvatore with running the salads.
Neither knew each other as colleagues and only became friends years later when Vitolo’s family would spend Mother’s Day at another ITA Kitchen location.
“We never connected the dots — I was going to his place, he was coming to mine,” Vitolo added.
“Now we want everyone who comes in here to feel like they’ve known us like family for years.”
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