Italian on the menu, spoken in kitchen at restaurant coming to Modesto’s Village One
If you want extra special service at the newest restaurant opening in Modesto’s Village One, you’d better brush up on your Italian.
Gusto Italiano is opening in the former Rusty Red Grill space at the corner of Claus Road and Sylvan Avenue, with two native speakers at the helm. The Italian eatery is the first restaurant from longtime Modesto business owner Calogero Sacco, who also owns Cornucopia Natural Foods on Coffee Road.
Sacco, whose parents both immigrated to America from Sicily, has brought in an Italian chef originally from Calabria to help make his 30-year dream of opening an authentic Italian restaurant a reality. The San Diego native had been working as a musician in San Francisco three decades ago, when the opportunity to open an Italian spot in Modesto arose.
So he came to the valley, but the deal fell through. And instead, he ended up opening Cornucopia Natural Foods in 1995, one of the city’s longest-running health food stores.
Flash forward to about four years ago, when Sacco’s San Francisco-based mother-in-law was raving about an Italian restaurant in San Carlos called Delizie Cucina. So when they were next visiting the Bay Area, Sacco decided to check it out with his wife. Right away, he said, he knew things were looking up when he spoke to them in Italian and they responded back in kind.
He began speaking with the restaurant’s chef, Biagio Capua, who had come to the states the year before to cook in his brother-in-law’s San Carlos restaurant. But Capua was living in Modesto, and commuted back and forth to the Bay Area restaurant.
“We became close friends and loved to talk about great food and great wines,” Sacco said. “But he was tired of the commute and I said, ‘Why don’t we open a restaurant here, together.’ So they became business partners.
The Village One space was one he’d looked at before, when it wasn’t available. Then Rusty Red Grill owner and Papachino’s founder Jack Odicho passed away unexpectedly last May. Odicho had first opened downtown Modesto’s Papachino’s in 1985, and it continues under other owners. Then in 2017, he opened Rusty Red Grill, serving fresh-made Mediterranean food. But the space has been largely dark since his death last spring.
Now Sacco and Capua, who will serve as executive chef, have plans to turn it into a casual Italian spot with an open kitchen. The intimate space seats about 40, with an area to create an outdoor patio and the possibility for expansion next door.
Sacco promises a menu showcasing how light and fresh Italian cuisine can be, especially from southern Italy, where both men have roots. So expect a seasonal menu, local produce and homemade pastas.
“The food will speak for itself,” Sacco said. “When you have something that is so unique in taste and flavor, I have a feeling it will do really well. We’re trying to make the experience so if you haven’t been to Italy, you will feel like you are going there through our restaurant.”
The restaurant will be open for lunch and dinner and also serve beer and wine because, as Sacco said, “you can’t have Italian food without wine.”
Plans have been submitted to the city for renovations inside the space, which will include painting and installing new equipment. Sacco said he expects the restaurant to open in late March or early April.
This story was originally published January 29, 2020 at 2:19 PM.
