Vetrano's New Look

This summer, be sure to stop into Vetrano’s Restaurant in Westerly for a taste of old school Italian cooking. Vetrano’s has been serving up pizza and Italian specialties since 2002 and was recently renovated to add a room for private parties and a new bar space because chef and owner, Pasquale Illiano, wanted to give customers the “pleasure of sitting at a bar.” Pasquale was very hands on during the renovations and even painted the entire restaurant himself.

Cooking was something the Naples-born chef was meant to do. Even as a boy, as young as three years old, his family noticed his talent and passion for food. He loved helping his mother cook, and their specialties were eggplant parmigiana, tomato sauce, pasta e fagioli and rabbit cacciatore. Unfortunately, when he was only 13, his father passed away. He was suddenly the man of the house and got a full time job as a dishwasher in a Naples restaurant.

It was hard to watch his friends having fun while he worked to provide for his family, but Pasquale used that time to study and master the craft of Italian cooking. He learned from some of the best chefs of Naples, studying their secrets and learning some of their recipes along the way. In 1995, he came to the United States and worked at a pizzeria in Long Island. A year later he moved to northern Virginia where he got his green card, worked with a friend to build restaurant-style pizzerias and studied English 12 hours a day. Chef Illiano’s mother passed away in 1997 and after a couple months of grieving in Naples, he came back to the United States more determined than ever to start a restaurant of his own.

While working for a family friend in Ledyard, he knew on first sight that the old Newport Creamery location in Westerly was where he would open his first restaurant. Located right in the heart of the town with plenty of parking, Vetrano’s opened on Mother’s Day in 2002 and it soon became one of the hottest spots in town. Pasquale credits his wife Roxanne for helping him cope with the stress of ownership.

Although pizza is only part of the story at Vetrano’s, it’s a very delicious part. Pasquale says what makes his pizza so good comes as much from what’s in his DNA as the fresh ingredients he uses from local farms and shops. There’s more to his pizza than just flour, sauce and cheese. Every step of the process, from making the dough to making the sauce, takes time and love. He says making his pizza is “an art, but it has a lot of chemistry in it.” His Grandma’s Pizza is something even pizza connoisseurs can appreciate – a yeasty pan pizza crust topped with fresh mozzarella, tomato, EVOO and oregano. Made from a wide variety of toppings, you could go every day for a month and not have the same pizza twice.

In addition to pizza, the restaurant serves old school, simple, authentic Italian cuisine. The eggplant parmigiana is a customer favorite and the meatballs are homemade from a recipe he brought to the United States from Italy. Every day the restaurant buys its seafood fresh from local sources for zuppa di pesce and fish specials.

The new bar has been a welcome addition to the restaurant and customers have given it rave reviews. Chef Vetrano is currently developing a Bar Bites menu to include traditional bar favorites with a southern Italian twist. The cocktails give another reason to visit Vetrano’s new bar. They include a Mediterranean martini with basil and cucumber, an Italian margarita and a freshly brewed espresso martini.

Stop in to Vetrano’s this summer to experience a bit of Naples in South County. After a day at the beach, when clam cakes and chowder don’t beckon you anymore, grab a pizza and a martini and experience Chef Illiano’s version of an Italian Osteria in the heart of Westerly. You won’t regret it.

130 F Granite Street, Westerly, 348-5050, www.vetranosrestaurant.com

Sweet Bites in East Greenwich
There aren’t many things in life worth waiting eight months for, but Palmieri’s Bakery and Cafe’ opening on Main Street in East Greenwich is one of them. Originally set to open last September, the bakery (formerly the home of Symposium Books) spent the fall and dreary winter being transformed. A kitchen was installed, the retail space renovated and a cozy café space with eight small tables was created. Palmieri’s features a wide variety of pastries (including excellent cannoli, wine and pepper biscuits, fresh baked breads and a rather tasty bakery-style pizza). The kitchen creates made-to-order sandwiches and crepes (both sweet and savory). The coffee bar is brewing your favorite coffee drinks from cappuccino to café au lait to iced mocha for the hot summer afternoons.

247 Main Street, East Greenwich, 861-CAKE

Send all food, beverage, restaurant, and chef news to Stacey Place at ri-dining@gmail.com. Follow Stacey on Twitter @ridining. Find further adventures in dining on Stacey’s website www.adventuresinridining.com