Every Sunday, the Scialoias had dinner with family and friends at their home, serving up made-in-house Italian meals.
“Everybody was like, ‘Oh man, you guys should open up a restaurant; your … food is always amazing’” Achille Scialoia said.
And that’s just what they did.
Fresco Cucina Italiana opened in 2006 in Dr. Phillips, initially as a deli.
“At that time, we opened up as a full deli,” Scialoia said. “It wasn’t even a restaurant. But it was a little bit too advanced for Orlando at the time, so we changed gears and went to the restaurant route. It’s funny, but now we’re kind of going back toward that because people really enjoy that now.”
Since then, the family restaurant has flourished in its spot in Bayhill Plaza. And now, 19 years later, the Scialoia family is opening a second location in Windermere called Fresco Pizzeria.
“It’s going to be a little bit different to the extent of (Fresco Cucina Italiana), we’re just a restaurant,” Scialoia said. “(In Windermere), it’s going to be where people can grab stuff to go. People on the run, people got to go, you know. Not everybody has time to sit down and enjoy, they got to pick up kids. … Life gets in the way.”
The grab-and-go part of the restaurant will serve Italian sandwiches, pizza, Italian baked goods, cannolis and more.
“We (also) brought on this more elegant idea where we’ll do nice wine tastings, dinners,” Scialoia said. “We’ll do more of an elegant but still family-friendly atmosphere. We want you to be able to come in with the kids, but we also want you to be able to come in on date night and (it) be enjoyable.”
The family’s biggest goal is to be a second home for families in the area.
“We wanted to focus on our local clientele and more of a family atmosphere,” Scialoia said. “I want people to come in and want everybody to know each other on a first-name basis. We want it to be that local neighborhood place where everybody feels comfortable.”
The restaurant portion will serve wood-fired pizzas made with 48-hour fermented dough, pastas, fresh bread, fresh seafood, vegetables and salads.
“People are very, very excited — especially in the Windermere area,” Scialoia said. “It’s very difficult for them to go to places, because the town only has so many restaurants.
“But a lot of people are very happy, because traffic is a nightmare,” he said. “So a lot of people are excited, because they can walk. That’s also the most exciting thing for me, is to have people just walk from their houses that’s just down the street, come grab a sandwich, grab a glass of wine, have a little salad or pasta, be happy and go home. That’s what I can’t wait for.”
His mother, Teresa Scialoia, and his brother, Luigi Scialoia, will work in the kitchen cooking the food, while Achille Scialoia takes care of front-of-house, ensuring things are running smoothly.
“It’s the most amazing thing,” Achille Scialoia said of working with his family. “Not many people have the ability to work with their families and see them often. I’ve learned so much from my mom; she’s the backbone of our family. She’s just taken this to another level. So to keep this train moving is the most exciting thing. And working with my brother, bouncing ideas off — ‘Oh, we should do this as a special, we should do that as a special’ — it’s been really an amazing experience.”
An opening date is not set; however, the family hopes to be open in December or late January.
“It’s a blessing, and we couldn’t be more excited, especially to have this opportunity,” Achille Scialoia said. “We’re coming on 19 years of business, and we’ve always dreamt about doing a second location. But it had to make sense, and it had to be the right place. Patience is a virtue, because it really has paid off.”
FRESCO PIZZERIA:
527 Main St., Windermere
ANTICIPATED OPENING DATE: December or January
NEARBY NEIGHBORS: Other businesses either open or slated to open at the new commercial project include Ace Hardware, Allstate Insurance, Elysium Interiors Revel Relaty, Solvio and Victoria Jewelers.
WEBSITE: frescoorlando.com
Dining and Cooking