Owners of Il Cortile open new restaurant near Paso Robles park. Take a look inside
Having a restaurant in downtown Paso Robles has been a dream for Carole and Santos MacDonal for many years — one that is now coming true with their new business at 1234 Park St.
From the culinary duo and owners of Il Cortile Ristorante, an authentic Italian restaurant in Paso Robles, comes a new restaurant diving into the tastes of the California coast.
Parchetto, Italian for “little park,” has opened less than one block from the Paso Robles Downtown City Park.
“The park has created so many lasting memories for us and this space brings us back to the heart of the community we fell in love with years ago,” Carole MacDonal said in a news release.
What will be on the menu for new Paso Robles restaurant?
MacDonal said in an interview with The Tribune that at Parchetto, she and her husband, Santos MacDonal — the restaurant’s head chef — are allowed a bit more creative freedom than in their other pursuits.
In contrast to Il Cortile, which makes only authentic Italian food using ingredients and methods from Italy, MacDonal said the philosophy of Parchetto is based on variety, with the goal of platforming the lush produce, agriculture and fresh catches in and around San Luis Obispo County.
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She told The Tribune with this greater freedom and the ability to prepare food without the constraints of traditional Italian cuisine, her husband will be able to create a more diverse menu.
“He makes the best Italian food that I have tasted in my life,” MacDonal said. “And this food is just a different expression.”
According to MacDonal, the produce used in both Il Cortile and Parchetto’s kitchens comes from their personal garden, as well as local farmers.
The Parchetto menu, like Il Cortile, will be seasonal, she added. Guests can expect to dine on a relatively consistent selection of meats and fish, which Carol attributed to the region’s proximity to local ranches and fresh fish.
For customers looking to try Parchetto for the first time, MacDonal recommended diners first order the restaurant’s tomato and feta cheese appetizer, one of their classic cocktails and any of the main courses.
MacDonal, who directs the interior design and the wine menu as the sommelier at the couple’s restaurants, said she was also excited to offer a more diverse variety of wines at the new restaurant.
She said she is looking forward to exploring bringing some German wines into the mix along with some more traditional Italian offerings and expanding the restaurant’s list of French wines.
Carol said opening another restaurant with Santos was an opportunity to do what they love most, together.
“We have so much fun together,” she said.
Interior design pays homage to Paso Robles
Parchetto ‘s interior design pays homage to the building’s long history in Paso Robles.
MacDonal told The Tribune she and her husband made minimal changes to the building architecture when they moved in and instead focused their attention on making cosmetic repairs to the building to restore it to its original condition.
She said one of the larger undertakings of the renovation was to restore the ceiling from a deep gold color to as close to the original white color as possible.
As diners first step into the dining room, they are greeted by a series of paintings done by local artist Amy Holland.
MacDonal said the goal of the interior design of the restaurant was to make diners feel like they have entered a secluded and “quietly luxurious” hideaway.
“It harks back to maybe a ‘40s or ‘50s feel with the lights above the bar but with a modern twist,” MacDonal said. “The experience we want people to have is to feel like they are in a different time.”
According to MacDonal, the bar menu includes only classic cocktails to stick to the theme — though customers looking to order off the menu can request all sorts of drinks, she said.
MacDonal said she hears from older customers that the drinks remind them of their days in college.
“We want to bring that feeling back,” she said.
Meanwhile MacDonal described how every detail on the restaurant’s branding was created with the park in mind — from the font that spells the restaurant’s name that mimics the angles of the sidewalks that cross through the park, or the small drawing at the bottom of each menu representing different areas of the park.
“You never know which part of the park you are going to be in when you sit down,” she said.
For more information
Reservations are available on Parchetto’s website parchettobistro.com or over the phone at 805-286-5636.
