I was in St. Louis recently and met up with a good friend who works in the front office for the St. Louis Rams. I was staying in the upscale St. Louis neighborhood of Clayton and he doesn't live far from there. We decided to meet up for dinner and he suggested a place that was almost equidistant from my hotel and his house, a little Italian restaurant by the name of Cafe Napoli.
I'd heard of Cafe Napoli before, but never had the chance to go there. It's been open since 1989 and the restaurant has entertained celebrities and sports legends during its 25 year existence. Cafe Napoli's charismatic owner, Tony Pietoso, has a pretty interesting back story coming to America as a teenaged orphan with an ability for playing soccer, having that dream squelched when a devastating knee injury in his early 20's forced him to give up professional aspirations, becoming a hair dresser for a few years before going to work as a waiter in an upscale restaurant in Clayton. It was during his time working as a waiter - which included a lot of table-side preparation - that Pietoso decided to open his own place.
After looking for spots near the famous Hill neighborhood in St. Louis, Pietoso found a small space in a basement on Bermiston in Clayton. His wife, Kathy, joined him in the small restaurant and not long after that he asked his brother Fortunato and his wife to come work with him in the kitchen. As natives of Naples, the Pietoso brothers focused upon southern Italian foods including pasta dishes made with hearty tomato sauces and seafood specialties, along with veal and chicken entrees.
Because the subterranean restaurant was partially hidden from view, Tony Pietoso would stand on the sidewalk in front of the business offering people free lunches in his restaurant if they didn't like the food. I'm guessing that not many people took him up on the free offer of food because Cafe Napoli became a big hit. It was at the time that Tony Pietoso decided that he needed to expand the restaurant that his brother left the restaurant after a difference in philosophies.
(Pictured right - Tony Pietoso. Photo courtesy St. Louis Business Journal.)
In 1994, Tony Pietoso found a larger space at the corner of Bermiston and Forsythe in Clayton across the street from the Clayton City Hall. (see map) His step-son, Todd, and his sons, Ande and Kye, grew up in the business and the three opened Bar Napoli next door to Cafe Napoli in 2003. In 2008, the family opened Cafe Napoli2 in west suburban Town and Country. (see map) Todd has since left the family business, but Ande is the general manager for Cafe Napoli2, while Kye is the G.M. for Cafe Napoli and Bar Napoli. Chip Bates is the executive chef for Cafe Napoli.
We made plans to meet up at Cafe Napoli around 7:30, but I got in a little early and was greeted by a young lady at the hostess stand. I told her that I was meeting someone for dinner, but I was certain that I was early. I told her that I'd just wait in the bar and gave her my name. As I turned to go toward the bar, a dapper man with gray hair said to me in a heavy Italian accent, "Hello, sir. Welcome. How are you this evening?" It was Tony Pietoso, the owner of Cafe Napoli. He sat at the bar later on and I couldn't help but take notice of the uncanny resemblance he had to actor Joe Pesci.
The bar area was nice, but it seemed to be a little smallish. Still, there were people who were seated in the bar area having dinner. A hockey match was on the television behind the bar and I ordered up a Schlafly Pale Ale from the bartender, Dan.
My friend showed up just after 7:30 and I suggested that we adjourn to the dining room, but he saw the hockey match on TV and he said, "What's wrong with eating at the bar? That's fine with me." He took a seat next to me, we asked Dan to get us a couple menus, he put down place settings for us and we were set for the evening.
As I said, the menu is more in tune with Southern Italian cuisine - lots of red sauce pasta dishes, veal and chicken entrees, some seafood and pasta combinations, and a couple steaks. Dan told us of a couple specials they had that evening that included a bone-in beef tenderloin filet, and an entree featuring scallops and pasta in a white wine garlic sauce.
I had my eye on the veal piccata - tender veal medallions with sauteed mushrooms in a white wine, lemon and butter sauce. I got a house salad - the Bella Napoli featured both iceberg and romaine lettuce along with hearts of palm, artichoke hearts, and red onion slices and topped with grated mozzarella and their house Italian dressing.
My buddy said, "Oh, man. I have to get the veal parm. It's so good here." The veal parmigiana features a pounded veal cutlets, breaded and lightly grill-fried, then covered with mozzarella cheese and marinara sauce and baked. He got a Caesar salad to start out.
After finishing our very good salads, Dan brought out the veal dishes that we'd ordered. My veal medallions were swimming in the white wine, lemon and butter sauce. Sauteed mushrooms were plentiful in the sauce with the veal. A side of bowtie pasta in a light marinara cream sauce came on the side. Along with dinner, I got a glass of Jordan cabernet - one of their house wines at Cafe Napoli, which was a pleasant surprise.
My friend's veal parmigiana featured two veal cutlets pounded flat and covered in bread crumbs. It was topped with a generous amount of mozzarella and marinara. It, too, came with bow-tie pasta with the tomato cream sauce. It looked great.
But I was more than happy with my veal piccata. The veal was tender and flavorful, very easy to cut. I sopped up the white wine/butter/lemon sauce the best that I could with the veal bites, but I had to resort to some of the housemade bread that Dan provided us to sponge up some of that great tasting sauce. The meal wasn't filling, but it was more than enough to make me feel satiated after I finished.
My buddy couldn't rave more about the veal parm. "This is the best veal parm in the city," he told me between bites. With all the great Italian restaurants in St. Louis, that's saying an awful lot. But, as I said, it looked spectacular.
As we finished up, Dan - who offered superb and professional service throughout the evening - asked us how things were going and wondered if we'd made any room for dessert. I was fine with what I had that evening. But I'm guessing that their tiramisu or cannoli had to be pretty spectacular.
My buddy used a $100 gift card for our meals, even though I protested that I should at least pay for half the meal. But he insisted, saying, "I don't get out that much. I've had this gift card for a long time." The bill came to $90 bucks, he told Dan to keep the remaining $10 bucks on the card and I popped a $20 down to add to the tip. All I had were $20's on me and I didn't want to say, "Hey, give me some change!" But his service was worth the extra tip.
I was very impressed with my meal, the service and the ambiance at Cafe Napoli - even though we sat in the bar. The veal piccata and salad I had was top notch - one of the better veal piccata dishes I've ever had. It's been a long time coming for me to finally make it to Cafe Napoli, but the wait was worth it. I'm hoping it won't be so long the next time I make it in.
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