• Home
• At The Shore
• Dining

It took a couple of years, but Dolores and John Durie found the perfect spot in Vineland to once again welcome friends and serve them simple, delicious and reasonably priced food. That, after all, is the theme of Casa Dori II, the aptly named restaurant that opened in February - or should we say reopened?

As the name suggests, the new location, in an office and retail complex next door to Vineland High School, is the second incarnation of Casa Dori. The first was at E. Oak Road and N. Main Road for five years before it closed on New Year's Eve 2006. At the time, the Duries planned to build a restaurant. When those plans fell through, the Duries searched for and found a place to resurrect Casa Dori.

The Duries put their signature touch on a space that has housed a deli and bagel place over the years. They created an elegant, unfussy space that is, at the same, time warm and welcoming. Olive and cream are the dominant colors of the one-room dining space. A fireplace is the focal point of the room, and diners gravitate toward it. Framed artwork that looks like watercolor but is actually digitally enhanced photography adds splashes of color to the walls. Fresh pink and white carnations with baby's breath sprigs decorate each table. Frank Sinatra and Barbra Streisand croon over speakers.

Like the room itself, the menu is simple and straightforward, with salads, pasta, veal, chicken, seafood and steak. Most are priced under $20.

"We always made you feel like you were eating in our home," explains Dolores Durie on a recent late morning just before the first lunch customers appeared. Even on a blustery day, the intimate, 10-table dining room has a cozy feel. And, in the kitchen, you won't find an assembly line. John Durie does all the cooking.

"From beginning to end, I want the salad, potatoes, vegetables, everything to be good," John Durie says. "That's why I like to do it small. I touch everything."

Showing a visitor around his kitchen, Durie explains some of the staples that keep regular customers happy - from the green and red peppers he roasts himself and serves with bread at dinner time to the simple house-salad dressing he mixes with olive oil and lemon juice. Durie's marinara sauce is his grandmother's recipe and, while he doesn't want his secrets published, suffice it to say it's made with all natural ingredients.

Dolores says her favorite menu item is the mussels with red sauce appetizer ($8).

"The secret is in his sauce," Dolores says. "People dunk the bread forever."

When it comes to entrees, diners come again and again for the Pittsburgh-style sirloin ($25). John Durie cuts a 14-ounce sirloin by hand, burns it on both sides in a pan before setting it on fire with wine. Then it's finished in the oven and, of course, served rare inside.

"That's an old-fashioned way to cook steak. People love it," he says.

Casa Dori II brings to mind small, family-owned eateries you might find on the corners of city blocks. In that way, it's not unlike Cefalu, the place John Durie owned with his mother, Connie Livecchi, on South Street in Philadelphia, for 15 years. Later, they went big, with a 140-seat restaurant and bar in Mount Laurel, before John and Dolores came to Vineland.

Although she grew up in Pennsauken and was a legal secretary in Philadelphia for 20 years, Dolores says Vineland feels like home. Her mother, Antoinette Gorgo, was born and raised in a large family in Newfield; her brothers and sisters stayed in the area. Dolores says she still has countless cousins nearby.

"It's wonderful to be someplace where you're surrounded by family and friends," Dolores Durie says.

Among the Duries' friends is Tony, an octogenarian who stops in for lunch a couple of days a week. On this day, Dolores asks if Tony is over his cold yet; after he enjoys his usual salad and ravioli, John sends him home with some soup to heat up later. That will help make that cold go away, John promises.

After decades in the restaurant business, John says he's enjoying Casa Dori's second act.

"Every Friday and Saturday night, people come to eat here. They follow us all over Vineland and everybody knows everybody," he says. "Right now, we're hearing all the praise and it's a lot of fun."

Casa Dori II

WHERE: Brewster Road and Chestnut Ave., Vineland

WHEN: Lunch 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday; dinner 4 p.m. to close Monday through Saturday

HOW MUCH: Lunch $7 to $10. Dinner appetizers $5 to $9; pasta specialties $12 to $20; veal $18 to $20; chicken $16 and $17; house favorites $17 to $25.

SERVICES: BYOB; most credit cards accepted; takeout; catering, private parties; reservations recommended on weekends

MORE INFO: 856-794-1888; fax 856-794-1880

BETWEEN YOU AND ME: The walls of Casa Dori II are hung with brightly colored land- and waterscapes that at first appear to be watercolors. On closer inspection, they are digitally enhanced photographs by Millville artist Verna McClain and can be purchased for $100.

No comments have been posted. Be the first poster!

PressofAtlanticCity.com offers everyone the opportunity to comment on published stories. However, it is impractical for editors to screen all comments.
If you believe a comment is offensive, please click on the abuse-reporting link and your objection will be considered by an editor. We encourage participants to use their real names, but inoffensive screen names are acceptable. Comments are the sole responsibility of the person posting them.
Please post responsibly. Do not post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy.
Be polite. Don’t hate. Users who don’t play by the rules may be blocked from participating.

View our full terms of service and privacy agreement

Click here to report a comment as abusive.

You must login to post a new comment