Also this issue: Close, and Yet So Far Valentino's location ensures cheery (if noisy) pre-show crowds, but not all of the dishes are great performances. -Maxine Keyser

November 21-27, 2002

food

firstlook

Photo By: Michael T. Regan

Vesuvio

by Frank Lewis

A complete story of the eruption of Vesuvio, Bella Vista’s newest Italian restaurant, would involve a lot of dirt. Two million pounds of it, in fact. That’s how much earth Michael D’Addesi, who runs the family-owned business, and friend Ryan Slepian shoveled from the basement of the former Café Lido in order to make it deep enough to accommodate restrooms. (“We’re like a legend in the dirt [hauling] community,” he says.) You’d never know it today -- the basement level is nicely tiled and well-lit -- but there was a time when D’Addesi thought the digging might never end.

But there isn't space here for a complete story, so you'll have to go to Vesuvio and get the tale from 29-year-old D'Addesi himself (he tells it better anyway). And that won't be hard, as he intends to be visible and approachable in the restaurant he opened on Nov. 19, with father Michael Sr., mom Maria, brother Jerry, sister-in-law Amy and executive chef Robert Leget -- technically not a relative but already part of the family, D'Addesi says.

The journey from agreement of sale with the previous owner to opening night has been a long one; the extensive renovations took more than two years, mostly because D'Addesi and his father did much of the work themselves. But it was time well spent. They discovered features apparently long hidden, such as a tile floor in the bar area, complete with "pee trough" (now covered with Plexiglas, so don't get any ideas), and a cool tin ceiling, also above the bar. In the dining areas -- the other half of the first floor and all of the second -- they kept some of the existing lighting and exposed some brick for a rustic touch.

D'Addesi and Leget, a Pittsburgh guy who did a brief tour at ¡Pasion!, plan to offer "casual fine dining." They speak as passionately about offering reasonable prices and comfortable atmosphere as they do about serving great dishes.

"We want people to feel like it's their home," says Leget, who's also 29. Here his goal is to offer Walnut Street-worthy food at considerably less than Walnut Street prices; antipasti dishes range from $5-$12, entrees $16-$18, and the ever-changing, three-pasta tasting dish is $16.

"We're catering to the neighborhood," says D'Addesi, who lives a block away. "We want people to feel like family."

Vesuvio, 736 S. Eighth St., 215-922-8380.