Renovations are nearly complete at the future site of Amata Italian Restaurant on Main Street, expected to open by mid-January.
Cousins Ronnie Gashi and Florian Imeri will operate the eatery, located at 509 Main St., alongside their other three Mississippi locations including Amore in Oxford and Brandon, Roma in Clinton and Casa D’Italia in Tupelo.
Gashi said the name Amata translates to “beloved” in Italian.
“It’s a fine dining restaurant,” Gashi said. “It’s going to be authentic Italian food and a really, really unique experience. … It’s taking a little bit more time, but when it’s ready, I think people are going to love it.”
The menu will feature traditional Italian dishes like lasagna, chicken cacciatore, fettuccine bolognese and chicken parmigiana, as well as some Italian-American cuisines like fettuccine alfredo. Imeri, who serves as executive chef for each location, will bring in a fully-trained kitchen staff to execute the from-scratch dishes.
“Our food is authentic,” Imeri said. “We make it how … you could eat it in Italy. Our sauces are made the same way. … We make everything from scratch.”
A plate of Chef Florian Imeri’s linguini alle vongole, a classic Italian seafood pasta, is pictured. Florian said Amata Italian Restaurant, expected to open next month along Main Street, will feature traditional Italian and Italian-American cuisine. Courtesy of Florian Imeri
The restaurant will also feature a full bar with an extensive wine list, composed of primarily Italian-imported wines. The bar itself will seat between 12 and 14 people, while the restaurant will accommodate about 85 people, including private party seating in a bank vault inside the restaurant.
Gashi said the pair fell in love with Italian cuisine after moving from northern Albania to New York nearly 10 years ago.
“Whenever you come to the U.S., I think … one of the easiest jobs to get is to get into the kitchen (and) get into a restaurant,” Gashi said. “… Ever since we started, we loved what we were doing. We saw different ways to expand and how to get better, and then we just kind of got stuck to it. We just love it.”
After a few years in New York, the pair began scouting areas in the U.S. that were lacking authentic Italian cuisine, first considering the Tennessee and Alabama area before settling on Oxford, Mississippi, to open their first location.
The pursuit became a full-fledged family affair, with two more cousins joining as co-owners of the business.
“The way we operate our restaurants … I tell people this is not a chain,” Gashi said. “We do take care of the business, of the restaurant, on a family level.”
Columbus expansion
The group decided to expand into Columbus after Kelly Frady, owner of the Main Street building, stopped by the group’s Oxford location earlier this year and asked them, plainly, if they would be interested in opening a restaurant in Columbus. After visiting the city, they agreed.
“We just thought that there wasn’t a lot of Italian food the way we make the food,” Gashi said. “… We love being here and people are being very welcoming and very nice toward us so that made us think, “Why not expand here?’”
Kelly and her husband Mark Frady leased the building to Gashi and Imeri in late October, at which point renovations began.
So far, the restaurant has been painted, lighting fixtures have been installed and contractors are preparing to replace the flooring.
“Everything is moving,” Kelly told The Dispatch on Friday. “We’re working on the kitchen right now (and) should be able to turn it over to (Gashi and Imeri) … maybe on the 20th of this month.”
Kelly and Chase Hazard, interior decorator with Uncommon Living, have been working together on design plans for the renovations to establish an “eclectic European” style for the restaurant.
A collage of inspirational photos for Amata Italian Restaurant’s dining room is pictured. The fine dining restaurant, expected to open at 509 Main St. by mid-January, will follow an “eclectic European” style, interior designer Chase Hazard said. Courtesy of Florian Imeri
Hazard said in sticking with that style, the bar will feature brass elements and mosaic tile flooring with pops of burgundy, greens, blues and coral throughout the restaurant.
“We’re bringing in a lot of textures, kind of keeping the main eating space a neutral palette but going with some bold colors in other areas of the restaurant,” Hazard said. “Eclectic European, it feels more collected and curated. It has … different variations of European aesthetics. We want it to feel kind of warm in there with a mix of old and new with textures and unique lighting, natural woods, the mosaic tiles, it’s … a lot of layering.”
Hazard said she’s hopeful people will appreciate the unique look – something the city hasn’t seen before.
“I hope that they love it,” she said. “I guess that’s what everybody wants. I feel like people always say that Columbus needs something different and something unique, and so this felt like a good opportunity to kind of bring that.”
Once that work is completed later this month, Gashi and Imeri will bring in their own tables, chairs and booths before stocking the shelves and opening the doors mid-January.
Coinciding with the opening are plans to add 12 angled parking spaces directly in front of the building, which sits next door to Rosenzweig Arts Center. Kelly said while the additional parking is purely coincidental, it would be a major benefit for the restaurant.
“We are so excited about that,” she said. “I think it will help with the restaurant because that’s always been a problem right there, is the parking. … It was just all in good timing.”
Built in the 1800s, the once six-story building that housed Columbus National Bank was partially destroyed in a fire in 1919, leaving it with the four stories that stand today.
The bottom floor of 509 Main St. has been home to many restaurants, including Brown’s Downtown, Tapas 509, Station 7 Bar and Grill and most recently Main Street Thai, which closed last year.
Posted in Columbus & Lowndes County
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Dining and Cooking