A lifelong journey
Before opening Spiaggia, on the advice of Larry Levy of Levy Restaurants, their prospective partner at the time, Mantuano and his wife, Cathy, traveled to Italy for a year to advance their knowledge of Italian cooking. It was a decision rarely made in the 1980s, Mantuano says, with most restaurants recruiting Italian chefs to America, not sending chefs from America to Italy. “We worked in some of the most incredible restaurants, like Dal Pescatore, which has three Michelin Stars and has three generations working there,” he says. “That was so influential into how Spiaggia came about, because there was this elegance in Italian cooking and there wasn’t a whole lot of that in the States at the time. In Italy, the food was inspired by the region, and they were cooking dishes they had been making for hundreds of years.”
Inspired by their time in Italy, Spiaggia opened in 1984, but with a menu that confused most Americans. “They said, ‘This isn’t Italian; you’re never going to make it without a meatball on your menu,’” Mantuano says. “There was a lot of explaining and storytelling about the menu in the beginning. Then people started traveling a lot more and now I get comments like, ‘I feel like I’m in Italy.’”
Those good feelings and comments have given rise to awards, accolades, and competitive wins for Spiaggia and its staff over the years, including, most recently, Spiaggia’s executive chef, Joe Flamm, winning “Top Chef” Season 15, and sommelier Rachael Lowe being named a 2016 Food & Wine Sommelier of the Year. Both were FSR Rising Stars in 2018. The accolades don’t happen by chance, though. Mantuano says he never takes anything for granted. “Part of Italian hospitality is realizing that every guest is important,” Mantuano says. “There’s a gene that a lot of Italians have in common; it’s built in that you want to make people comfortable. It’s our job to smile, welcome them, and let them know we appreciate that they chose to join us.”