Vico to Bring ‘Authentic Approach to Italian Cuisine’ to Farmingdale

FARMINGDALE, NY – Vico, a restaurant specializing in authentic Italian cuisine inspired by Vico Equense, a town on the Amalfi Coast of Italy’s Campania region, is slated to open in Farmingdale in early 2022. The location has yet to open. could be disclosed. , but it will be on Main Street, according to the owners.

The restaurant will be owned by the same owner as 317 Main Street, and chef Eric LeVine will also bring his culinary skills to the helm of the Vico kitchen. The menu will include a “pizza by the meter”, a concept inspired by Pizza A Metro Da Gigino L’Università della Pizza in Vico Equense.

Pizzas up to a few meters in length, cooked in a wood-fired oven, will be served to a group of people with different toppings. Individual pizzas, small plates, fresh pasta, meat and fish will also be available in a restaurant whose motto will be “Pizza. Pasta. Piccolo Piatti”. Piccolo piatti translates to small plates.

“The firewood oven and brick oven add that real, great authentic flavor while making it a different experience,” LeVine told Patch. “You can get pizza anywhere. But you can’t get great authentic individual pizzas like this. The quality we are going to focus on is freshness. “

Both local and imported ingredients from Italy will be used.

The concept for Vico is one that Joe Fortuna, owner of 317 Main Street and The Nutty Irishman, has long wanted to bring to Farmingdale. Fortuna visits his family in Vico Equense almost every year.

“We think it’s something that’s missing on Main Street,” Fortuna said. “You want to do something that’s going to be different. I’ve always wanted to do something like that. It’s the perfect opportunity.”

Perry Fortuna, partner of the next Vico, is working on wine-based cocktails based on the Campania region.

For those who cannot stay at the restaurant, take out and delivery will be available. However, a sense of community will be an important goal of the restaurant.

“The idea is to bring people back to a table and create the experience of the community,” said LeVine. “That’s what we all are as a restaurant group.”

Prices will be made affordable, as the group hopes customers will consider dining at Vico several times a week.

LeVine, a Culinary Institute of America graduate, helped open 317 Main Street in 2019. The gastropub is regularly one of the busiest restaurants in the village every night, as it serves a wide range of cuisines and types. of a meal. . The chef is ready to embrace the traditional Italian cuisine of Vico Equense in the new restaurant.

“For me it’s not a challenge,” said LeVine. “For me it’s actually a lot of fun. Because I can experiment and look at things from a different palette. It’s just another extension of what I’m doing. It’s food. I could do it. Asian food, I can do Italian food. I can do any food. But I only do it by learning. Years ago, I had partners who came from India. I did not know nothing to Indian cuisine. Now I’m comfortable with it because I experimented, I tried, I created and I executed. “

LeVine said Fortuna will serve as his guide on the region’s palette. Fortuna’s passion for the area and his family’s food came as he combed his phone for photos of pizzas, vegetables and scenes from the Italian coastal town.

This passion will help inform LeVine as he strives to bring as authentic an experience as possible to Farmingdale.

“If someone goes [to Vico Equense] and they come back, and they say, ‘Wow, look at this. They make it like home, ”that’s an important thing,” said LeVine. “And for people to experiment and try different things. It has always been one of the strengths that I have had. Experiment and perform at this higher level. I like the challenge of that. Also, as a cook, it’s fun. I can do something else. We have a lot of challenges and creative things going on at 317. But doing that focus and being able to twist it and make it unique is going to be a lot of fun. “

LeVine plans to get creative with the pizza toppings, and there will be options for vegans too. Personal pizzas will be different from pizzas by the meter.

“We are trying to make it become an individual experience for that person so that they can create their own or have something that we have created that they can call their own,” he said. “‘This is my favorite pizza. I can come have a glass of wine in the middle of the afternoon with this and not feel too full, but just comfortable enough to be able to go back to work.'”

Drawing inspiration from the Italian region Fortuna has visited so many times will ensure that Vico’s staff have a personal connection to food, which is crucial, according to LeVine.

“You can’t be a great cook if you can’t connect to the pan to create food,” LeVine said. “It’s one of those things, as owners, you want to be able to put it all together to create that connection and that experience. That’s where it comes from. When Joe goes back to Italy in the summer, he take that home with him when he comes in here. It’s always like, “Oh, I saw that” or “Hey, we should try that.” Then we experiment and we play. “

People will be able to taste the fruits of LeVine and Fortuna’s experiences in the first quarter of 2022 as currently planned.