I've been spending some time in Kansas City this summer thanks to some renewed interest from a couple accounts regarding some of our products and I had an early morning meeting with a dealer on the east side of Kansas City that I came into town a day early for. I was looking for something along the lines of Italian food that evening and I found a place that has been around for well over 50 years that I decided to try. Here's what I experienced at V's Italiano Ristorante in Independence, MO.
The "V" behind V's Italiano Ristorante is the former Vita Barber, also known as "Mama V" to many family members and patrons. Vita Barber grew up in an Italian neighborhood in Kansas City near a young boy by the name of Jay Totta. Vita and Jay knew each other nearly all their lives and eventually got married.
Jay became an architect and Vita stayed at home to raise their four children. However, a trip to California in the early 60's changed the Totta's life. They visited Jay's cousin who was running a pizza restaurant. Seeing the patrons eating the Italian specialty gave Vita an idea. She wanted to open her own pizza restaurant back home in Kansas City.
With all four of their children now in school, Vita thought that she had better learn how to run a restaurant before she jumped in without any experience. She found a part-time waitressing job from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. through the week to learn the ins-and-outs of the restaurant business.
The next thing she had to do after she had some experience was to find a place for her restaurant. It turned out there was a small cafe not far from Interstate 70 on the east side of Kansas City where the owner was getting ready to sell the place for $3000. Jay and Vita had $2000 of their own money, so they went to the bank to borrow the other $1000. They explained to the banker their business plan of opening a pizza restaurant, but the banker didn't know what pizza was. Nonetheless, he loaned the Totta's the money for them to buy the cafe. They opened V's Cafe in October of 1963.
Pictured right - Vita "Mama V" Totta. Photo courtesy of the Jackson County Examiner.
At first, not many people around Kansas City knew what to think of Mama V's pizza. But things started to pick up - especially after Jay and Vita discovered that pizza tastes pretty darned good with beer - and it wasn't long before the little 35 seat cafe was filled on most nights.
V's Cafe outgrew it's original location in less than three years and they moved to a new location in 1966. It wasn't much larger than the small cafe, and Vita expanded the menu with Italian specialties made from recipes from her mother, Carrie Barber. Success continued and within five years the Totta's knew they had to move to a larger location.
They found a lot along U.S. Highway 40 in Independence and bought the property in 1971. Jay designed the new restaurant with a large dining area, a lounge, and three banquet rooms that sat another 135 people. Vita's father Tony Barber planted grape vines on a wood arbor in front of the new restaurant. When everything was complete, V's Italiano Ristorante opened their doors in 1972.
Jay and Vita's children all worked in their restaurants at one point in time or longer. But it was when a young boy by the name of Greg Hunsaker came into the brand new V's in April of 1972 to ask for a job, little did anyone know that he would eventually become a part of the Totta family. Greg Hunsaker's older brother worked in the restaurant, but the Totta's thought that Greg was too young to work in the place. Perseverance paid off for Greg who was eventually hired in December of 1972 after a busboy didn't come in to work one evening.
He bussed table for the next seven months, but one evening he was chewed out by a lady and he thought about quitting and going back to mowing lawns. But Vita Totta saw something in the young Greg Hunsaker and she reassigned him to work in the kitchen.
After working in V's Italiano kitchen for a year, Greg Hunsaker - now at the ripe age of 16 - knew that he wanted to continue to work at the restaurant. Over the next few years, Hunsaker did a little bit of everything - server, kitchen manager, and finally becoming general manager by the age of 24. Jay and Vita's daughter, Mary, was the bar manager at V's Italiano and she and Greg worked together in management. But things changed from a working relationship into a matrimonial situation as Greg and Mary were married in 1983.
A number of years later, Vita offered Greg Husaker, Sr. a chance to become part owner of the restaurant and he jumped in with both feet. When Vita eventually retired from the day-to-day operations a few years back, Greg and Mary took over the restaurant full time. Their son, Greg, Jr., started working in the restaurant when he was 10 as a busboy before he started to work in the kitchen. The younger Hunsaker eventually went to college and studied hospitality management before coming back to work at the Totta/Hunsaker family restaurant. Today, Greg Hunsaker, Jr. is the manager of V's Italiano Ristorante. Jay Totta passed away in 2007 and now in her mid-80's Mama V continues to check in on the restaurant nearly every day.
After pulling into the parking lot at 10819 E. U.S. Highway 40, I made my way into the restaurant where I was met by Greg Hunsaker, Jr., himself. (see map) He took me to a booth in what appeared to be a main dining room in the place.
There were a couple of other segments to the dining room. There was a small room off to the side just as you come into the dining area that could possibly be used as a small reception or private dining area. There was also another area that looked like it could have been used for brunch or a lunch buffet. The lounge was off to the side when you come into the place. There was kind of a rustic Tuscan feel to the interior of V's Italiano. Classic Italian crooners such as Dean Martin, Tony Bennett and Perry Como were playing in the background.
I was greeted by Susan, a nice middle-aged lady who was friendly and sassy. I started out with ordering a Boulevard Pale Ale as I looked through the menu to see what they had to offer.
The menu featured a number of classic Italian favorites - osso bucco, chicken parmigiana, and cioppino. Pasta dishes included fettuccine alfredo (they had a seafood option that added lobster meat and shrimp), spicy linguine in a white cream sauce, spaghetti in a meat sauce, and Mama V's lasagna that she has served at the restaurant for over 50 years. (When it was first introduced at V's Cafe in the 60's, patrons had trouble with the pronunciation calling it "la-zag-na".) And being in Kansas City, V's Italiano has a number of steaks on the menu, as well as prime rib and seafood. But, of course, V's Italiano Ristorante features Mama V's original pizza which started the whole thing back in 1963.
After ordering up my meal, I was brought out a house salad with a sweet Italian dressing. The salad consisted of fresh iceberg and romaine lettuce topped with shredded mozzarella, red onion rings, and cherry tomatoes. Along with the salad came a basket of pumpernickel and Italian bread. The bread was delicious, as was the salad.
For dinner that evening, I went with the penne pasta in the bolognese sauce with sautéed mushrooms added in. For good measure, I got a couple of meat balls to go along with the pasta. Susan talked me into a half-order of V's garlic cheese bread. I'd already had too much of the excellent Italian and pumpernickel bread, but she made it sound like the garlic bread was to die for. (Here's a tip - it was just all right.)
The meat sauce was sweet, but it was very good. The meat balls were also very good as they held together very well. The pasta dish went very well with a glass of Josh Cellars cabernet that I had ordered up before the meal came out. It was a great - and filling - classic Italian meal.
At the end of the meal, Susan told me that I also got a piece of Mama V's Italian rum cake. I was so full that there was no way that I could eat it. She said, "I'll get you a piece to go." I told her that I was staying in a hotel and she said, "No worries. I'll give you a fork to use." She gave it to me in a small bag and I took it with me. I put it in the refrigerator at the hotel - and promptly forgot about it. I didn't take it with me when I left the next day. But that was fine - I had more than enough to eat that night.
V's Italiano Ristorante is one of those places that are like you're going to your Italian grandmas for dinner. The food was old school Italian - and there was a lot of it. I was happy with everything that I had at V's. It's not a fancy place, but it's comfortable and unpretentious. There are a handful of good Italian restaurants I've eaten at in Kansas City over the years and V's Italiano may be the oldest of the ones that are still around. I thought the food, service and atmosphere were well above average, and I wouldn't hesitate to head back to V's Italiano Ristorante for a good Italian meal if I'm up for one when I'm in Kansas City.
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