OCTOBER 2024

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF RODNEY WILSON

After years and years as a prototypical sleepy Cincinnati suburb, Deer Park has become something of a real estate hot spot of late. Over the past decade, scores of transplants have bought up the community’s cozy houses with wild abandon, bringing new energy to the northeast side city. Amongst the reasons to check out Deer Park is the city’s distinctive dining scene.

In addition to the ever-popular bar and grill Chicken on the Run, one can find standout Venezuelan offerings at Arrechissimo, Peruvian food at Inkazteka, Mexican food at El Jinete, and kosher Mediterranean meals at Kinneret Grill. And a relatively new addition to the scene, Il Gusto Pizza & Pasta, serves up very good Italian food from an unassuming storefront in the Dillionvale Shopping Center, next door to an IGA.

This begs the question: Why Deer Park? Specifically, what brings authentic Italian food to a city with a population of fewer than 6,000? The short answer: Owner Doni Dervisholli had a friend in the area who found who recommended the space. The longer answer is way more interesting, though, and ties where Deer Park is headed to the tight-knit history of the little city.

“We’re from Rome,” says Dervisholli, who further explains that he spent time in West Palm Beach as a kid, before his parents moved the family to Kettering based on recommendations of the area’s schools from family friends. The roots of Il Gusto—which means “the taste” in Italian—go back way farther, though, to an uncle who immigrated to the U.S. half a century ago.

“My uncle Louie, who helped us out here in the beginning as we opened, actually had all the recipes,” Dervisholli says. “When he came to the States back in the 1970s, he went to New York. He had our family recipes, but he knew Italian pizza wouldn’t sell as well because it’s more doughy and smaller, so he learned from a Brooklyn guy how to make pizza New York style. That’s when he opened his own.”

Dervisholli explains that the pizzas he makes today at Il Gusto are “a little bit combination of the two,” Italian and New York style, and based on these family recipes his uncle brought to the States. He, in turn, learned to cook while working at the family’s place in Kettering, Troni’s Pizza.

“I grew up in the business,” he says. “We used to come off of school and go to the restaurant and make pizza—make dough and sauce and everything—so it was just something we were used to doing.”

Transitioning to carryout during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic got Dervisholli thinking about opening a more mobile-minded second location. He’d been eyeing a spot next to Troni’s, but when it rented to another business, his Deer Park friend let him know about a spot vacated by Little Caesars Pizza. “I really liked the area because it’s by the mall and I thought it would be a great area to open a pizza place,” he says. “So I looked at it and I got it.”

Il Gusto opened toward the end of 2021, serving New York-style pizza and pastas based on Dervisholli’s family recipes. The featured pizza is a stellar Margherita, served with a specialty olive oil, and the garlic rolls are already local legends. You’ll also find calzone and stromboli, subs and salads, and traditional pasta dishes such as lasagna, baked manicotti, and cheese ravioli, all available for carryout, free delivery between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m., or dine-in at a handful of tables in the storefront space.

OCTOBER 2024Dervisholli’s Deer Park venture was an immediate success, too, as local anticipation built without a single ad. To this day Il Gusto has done “zero advertising.”

“The first day, we were a packed house in here,” he says. “People were real excited for a family-owned pizza place and to have pastas and stuff. People here are very family oriented and they all know each other when they come in here to pick up food. They’ll be like friends from high school in here and start talking to each other.”

That makes it the perfect, if maybe kind of unexpected, place to sell great food to an appreciative community. And the appreciation of Il Gusto’s customers was recently recognized by Yelp, who named the eatery the 17th best pizza place in the Midwest based on customer reviews.

“That made me very happy,” Dervisholli says. “I was on vacation and one of my customers texted me and said, ‘Did you see that article?’ It was a very big deal for me. I really care about what my customers think. That made me feel accomplished for sure and very thankful to the community for all the support.”

Dervisholli has hopes to one day also open a fine dining Italian restaurant in the area, but for now he’s focused on making Il Gusto the best little pizza and pasta place he can. And he knows for certain he ended up in the right spot to do that.

“I just want everyone to know that I’m very thankful to them for welcoming us with open arms,” he says. “We appreciate everyone’s support in Deer Park.”

Il Gusto Pizza & Pasta, 3936 E. Galbraith Rd., Deer Park, ilgustopizzaandpasta.com

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