Italian culinary delights made in house. New restaurant to open this summer in Perry

John Staurulakis got his start in the restaurant industry when he was only 8 years old.

That’s when he first began helping his mother with her catering and event-planning business, and by 16, he had his own catering business in the Annapolis-D.C.-Baltimore area.

Staurulakis later ended up at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. He then moved to New Orleans, where he worked for a couple of high profile restaurants before coming to Perry as part of the original team behind ‘Orleans on Carroll St.

This summer, he is opening his own restaurant, Trattoria di Napoli, his first, in historic downtown Perry. Tim Harko, a close friend since culinary school, will serve as the restaurant’s executive chef.

“It’s a little surreal — like I’m ecstatic, and I’m incredibly proud of everything we’ve done so far,” Staurulakis said. “I can’t wait to see what we do. It means a lot that people have put their faith in me to be able to succeed in this venture.”

Behind the name

“Trattoria essentially translates to local like bistro, and normally in Italy when you see trattoria, it means that it’s a place selling food local to the area,” Staurulakis said. “So technically, at Trattoria di Napoli, we should only be serving Neapolitan food. But we really like the sound of it and we serve from all over Italy.”

The new bistro is on the first floor of the Commodore Building at 904 Commerce St.

At Trattoria di Napoli, diners can expect fine dining in a casual atmosphere.

“The concept is designed to be a family friendly restaurant by having fine dining quality food and service without the formality,” Staurulakis said.

“Everything is designed to bring you into the ambiance of the restaurant … We want you to be able to just stop and enjoy yourself and enjoy the food and the drink in front of you with the company that you have,” he said.

The cuisine

Everything from the pasta to sauces to the pizza dough are made from scratch except the cheese and gluten-free pasta.

The house bolognese sauce has all sorts of cured meat scraps like prosciutto and bresaola that are ground up before being added to the sauce. Among the dishes calling for the bolognese sauce is the restaurant’s lasagna, which is made with spinach pasta.

Another sauce, their cacio e pepe, is a “very, very traditional Italian sauce” they make with Parmesan cheese and black pepper, Staurulakis said.

Chicken Parmesan and eggplant rollatini are among their signature dishes and another that Staurulakis is especially fond of is a salad.

“It’s a watermelon salad with cucumber and green onion in a red wine vinaigrette with chili roasted pistachios,” he said. “It’s absolutely incredible. It’s one of my favorite things I’ve ever … made.”

For dessert, the restaurant offers panna cotta, a thick Italian custard, along with their house-made — down to the lady fingers — tiramisu and cannolis, which are a little lighter than traditional cannolis.

While the menu hasn’t been finalized yet, Staurulakis expects appetizers will cost between $14 and $25 and entrees between $18 and $52.

Brick by brick

“We’ve brought in some incredible products and incredible equipment from all over the U.S. as well as Europe to make sure that we can deliver the best quality product possible and most of it is on display,” Staurulakis said.

The bistro offers an open-kitchen where diners can watch their food being prepared and features a custom-made Neapolitan pizza oven from manufacturer Marra Forni. The 4,500 pound oven was built on site brick by brick because it’s too big to have fit through a restaurant door, Staurulakis said. The bricks are from Naples, Italy.

Unlike commercial bricks, these bricks can withstand the up to 1,200-degree maximum temperature of the oven designed to cook a Neapolitan pizza with a crisp, light crust in 90 seconds, Staurulakis said.

The restaurant also features a classic Italian-style espresso machine.

Trish Cossart of Perry-based Cossart Design is behind the interior design, which includes banquettes along the walls to maximize seating, several glass mosaics from Murano, Italy, hand-selected tiles, and custom-made bar shelving by Fort Valley-based Wooden Masterpieces.

Staurulakis said he hopes to open by late June or early July — first by invitation only to family and friends and then initially by reservation, only until he feels the new staff is able to handle large crowds while maintaining high standards of quality.

The restaurant is expected to seat 70 to 90 people. Hours will be 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

“My role is to prepare my team: to set them up for success, and when the dishwasher calls out or the line falls behind, I’m more than happy to jump into whatever roles: taking tables, greeting customers, making drinks,” Staurulakis said. “I’m excited to be back in the thick of it.”