The chef who first launched the eponymous Donato Enoteca in downtown Redwood City in 2009, then Desco in Old Oakland in 2013, then a Peninsula salumeria and wine bar, Cru, in 2016, will open a Berkeley restaurant in late September.
For this venture, Donato & Co., he is partnering with fellow Italian chef and friend Gianluca Guglielmi, formerly the executive chef for A.G. Ferrari and Co.
And they are situating the restaurant just around the corner from where the legendary Ferrari deli was located in the Elmwood district. The space itself, 2635 Ashby Ave., had housed The Advocate.
Scotti’s roots are in Bergamo near Lake Como; Guglielmi grew up in the Vicenza region. Together, however, they plan to highlight all of Italy’s regional cuisines with contemporary approaches to rustic dishes. Meats will be cooked over a live fire, either grill or rotisserie; pastas will be made in-house; and seafood will be locally sourced, they announced.
While Scotti focuses on the wine list, Guglielmi will craft the cocktail menu. And the former Ferrari chef will oversee the dessert menu.
Guglielmi grew up in a restaurant family, heading into the kitchen at age 13. After working at at number of Michelin-starred and other noted Italian restaurants, he came to the United States in 1998 and served as Ferrari’s executive chef for a decade, then returned to Italy for a culinary endeavor there. The Ferrari chain, which was founded in San Jose in 1919 and expanded to Berkeley’s Elmwood area in 1921, closed earlier this year after nearly a century in operation.
Scotti, who worked in a Michelin-starred kitchen as a high school student, came to this country at age 21. His career took him from Valentino (Los Angeles) to Il Fornaio (Sacramento, Walnut Creek, Palo Alto) to La Strada (Palo Alto) before the chef decided to add restaurateur to his résumé with Donato Enoteca.
Details: www.donatoandco.com.
