There’s a new Italian restaurant in town from Chef Rocco “Rocky” Scarpino, who has been crafting Amalfi Coast dishes for decades.
Rocco Scarpino
Scarpino has cooked for his family in Italy since he was 12 and arrived in the U.S. from Salerno, Italy, in 2015 to help his brother at his Bradenton restaurant.
In Italy, “kids are taught to make handmade pasta and sauce,” Scarpino said.
As fate would have it, that 2015 visit became a permanent stay for Scarpino.
While his brother was away, his restaurant was “trashed,” and his brother asked if Rocco wanted to take it over.
Instead of going back to Italy, Scarpino stayed, restoring Scarpino’s Classic Italian Restaurant, which is still in operation.
He went on to open two other restaurants in Bradenton—Michael’s on 59th and Rocco’s Pizza Pasta Grille. All were sold prior to Scarpino opening his Port Charlotte restaurant.
Scarpino explained that the sales of his restaurants were contingent on him vowing not to open another restaurant within a certain distance of some 15 to 20 miles.
While looking for a place south of Manatee County, he found a stand-alone structure at 8101 Murdock Circle on the Port Charlotte Town Center Mall property.
Rossini by Chef Rocco has been completely renovated with custom-made wine racks that adorn walls, subdued decor and a ceiling painted with a blue sky and clouds.
Patrons who don’t know him wonder whether Chef Rocco’s surname is Rossini. Why that name?
With a bit of emotion, Scarpino said that he named the restaurant Rossini after legendary violinist Gioachino Rossini. Born in 1792, he was an Italian composer who wrote 39 operas and many songs, including “The Barber of Seville.”
Italy, art, food and wine are elements Scarpino wishes to display in his restaurant.
Scarpino was nationally recognized after the president of the Culinary Institute of America tried his branzino, a European sea bass dish, and recommended him for the award of Master Chef, which he received from the C.I.A., said David Budney, Scarpino’s right-hand man.
Budney has known Scarpino for eight years, and they met while working at the late Joe Casadio’s restaurant, 15 South, at St. Armand’s Circle in Sarasota.
When he first arrived in the U.S., Scarpino was working “110 hours a week,” he said.
His work ethic allowed him to raise enough money to go solo.
Budney said Scarpino, a self-avowed workaholic, arrived on that 2015 visit with $700 in his pocket. A friend needed $200 for a medical emergency, and Scarpino gave it to him, Budney said.
His reputation as a hard-working chef was well-known in Italy, and also in Germany, where Scarpino opened a restaurant in Grüenstadt.
On June 3, Rossini was packed. It was ribbon-cutting day to celebrate its grand opening, although it had a soft opening in late May.
The dining room has a capacity of 80, and it can accommodate another 50 outside.
The menu has both not-so-familiar and familiar items, such as spinach, sausage and bean soup, escargot sauteed with mushrooms in oil, garlic and white wine. Veal and/or chicken favorites include Marsala, Fiorentina and Francese. There are numerous pasta dishes, gourmet pizzas, lunch specials, desserts, including Limoncello mascarpone cake, gelato, amaretto cream cake.
“We have $1 meatballs on Tuesday,” Budney said.
He elaborated that a Rossini by Chef Rocco meatball made today, tomorrow or 10 years from now will taste the same.
“The recipes are from my family,” Scarpino said.
In addition to the food, there also is an extensive wine menu.
