Vito Mannino wants to ensure customers aren’t intimidated at Room 101 The Med.
So he’s kept the Mediterranean restaurant’s menu simple with easy descriptions and a guide defining ingredients such as escarole.
“When you’re in college taking a class the entry level is always 101. We are the entry level to Mediterranean cuisine,” Mannino said.
The restaurant at 35 W. Main St. opened last month in Annville specializing in pizzas, pastas and appetizers including fire roasted calamari, tomato feta dip and charcuterie boards. A grand opening will be celebrated on June 13.
For Mannino opening the restaurant brings him full circle. The graduate of The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, grew up in the restaurant industry working at his father’s A&M Pizza in Palmyra.
“When I was in high school, I decided college wasn’t for me. I’m not a classroom person. I went to the Lebanon Career and Technology Center and did the culinary program in my senior year. After that, I realized being in the kitchen is what I love to do,” he said.
After graduating from the CIA, Mannino worked at the Hotel Hershey followed for about 12 years at his family’s pizza shop where he learned the business side of operations. The goal was always to open his own place. When the building along Main Street became available Mannino and his wife Heather jumped at the opportunity.
“We pretty much did a complete remodel on this building. We tore it down to its bones and did a whole new setup,” he said.
The restaurant is divided into two dining rooms, one near an open kitchen and the second one in a more private setting. Room 101 also offers a marketplace selling products including olive oils, semolina flour, balsamic vinegar, canned beans and chocolates.
Starting June 13, full sit-down lunch service will be added. For now, the restaurant is open for takeout only over lunch with regular dinner service.
The menu focuses on core Mediterranean foods including pizzas baked in a brick oven. Varieties stretch from a margherita to a meat lovers and chicken pesto.
“Right now, we are leaning more toward Italian and Greek flavors and some Spanish. My family is Sicilian so we are smack dab in Italian,” Mannino said
The calamari appetizer is stuffed with chorizo and polenta while a fire roasted cauliflower is served with hummus. Pastas cover an artichoke stuffed pasta with shrimp, a bean pasta and traditional carbonara and bolognese, while entrees feature stripped bass, roasted Cornish game hen, ribeye steaks and chickpea cakes.
Bread and pizza dough and pastas are made from scratch. Delivery is available and one of the dining rooms is available to book for events.
Hours starting June 13: For lunch 11 a.m.-2 pm. Tuesday-Friday and for dinner from 5-9 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 5-10 p.m. Friday and 4:30-10 p.m. Saturday. Phone is 717-825-6070.
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