What do you get when you mix restaurant professionals, a passion for food tourism and Italian food? There’s a new answer to that question in Greenville’s West End.
DeMarco’s Italian on Augusta Street, next to Fluor Field, brings an old school, Italian-American joint vibe but shifts it into a contemporary setting, ditching the white table cloths and infusing raw energy.
“‘What’s the vibe?’ It is a vibe,” managing partner Mike Wible joked. “We’re a modern Italian-American restaurant. We do stress the ‘Italian-American’ because not all the dishes we serve are traditional Italian dishes, by any means.
“You couldn’t find a veal chopped parm in Rome,” he said with a smile.Its owners – Mike Baldassara of The Slice, sister-in-law Genine DeMarco-Baldassara, Wible, who previously managed spots like Chophouse New Orleans, and Anthony Pepe of The Pasta Addict – each bring their own expertise to the cuisine. The partners also brought on Anthony Falco to design the pizzas.
The restaurant uses its Acunto wood-fired oven for pastas and mains, offering options like lasagna verde and branzino. Its pastas are house made in the “old school technique” as utilized by Pepe, with items like a duck ragu with foie gras butter over pappardalle pasta and topped with breadcrumbs.
The pizzas are somewhere between a true northern “slice” and Neapolitan pizza – artisanal with crispy edges.
Wible said the wine list is over 70% Italian, spotlighting boutique wineries to pair with its fare because what grows together, goes together.
DeMarco’s Italian opened Feb. 25. Wible said the big and small lights throughout are intended to look like the moon and stars.
Atmosphere of DeMarco’s Italian
The restaurant has upstairs and downstairs seating. Outdoor seating will be available soon on the balcony and patio.
Globe lights hang overhead with smaller, twinkling lights hanging just above them against the industrial black ceiling. Guests will find black tables and accents with carrot-orange banquettes, a quartz bar and accented areas like its glass mosaic wall to the right of the entrance designed to look like a roaring fire.
The team acquired the space three years ago, choosing it for its proximity to the ballpark and the continuing growth to the West End.
“We’re almost like an anchor in a way, to the beginning of downtown, coming from the Greenville Country Club side,” Wible said.
Plans for the restaurant changed some over the years, with the partners landing on a high-brow Italian restaurant as they traveled, borrowing and improving upon ideas gathered from restaurants around the country.
“We always wanted to bring a part of this to Greenville,” Wible said.
“Those big city vibes is what we were trying to bring into this restaurant.”
Photos: Inside DeMarco’s Italian