Gina's Ristorante, an Italian restaurant that opened on St. Patrick's Day, feels like coming home. And that's just what Anthony DePasquale and Jason Merighi were hoping to create when they took over a former Mexican restaurant in Millville's Glasstown Arts District.
The business partners named their new eatery for DePasquale's wife of 25 years and went to work putting in a new kitchen and painting the 40-seat dining room's stucco walls olive green with brown wainscoting. DePasquale even stenciled raised floral vines along the top of the walls.
Tables are glossy brown and black and the only linens are tan napkins rolled around place settings, sitting atop modern brown and tan plates. A landscape painting from DePasquale's grandmother's house hangs on a wall. The room is unfussy and uncluttered, yet inviting.
"We wanted something comfortable and homey," Merighi says. "We're not fine dining or a pizzeria. We're a have-fun kind of place."
Merighi, 25, and DePasquale, 43, met years ago when DePasquale was a chef and Merighi a server at Winfield's, a fine-dining restaurant just a couple of doors down from Gina's. They met back up again when they both worked at the now-closed Garden Room in Vineland. Both are food guys - DePasquale the veteran who has been around the block a few times and Merighi a relative newcomer who started at age 16 at Stewart's Root Beer in Vineland.
"I tried other stuff, but came back," says Merighi, who lives in Vineland. "It's what I love."
In their new venture, Merighi and DePasquale make a nice yin and yang. Merighi is the front of the house, with an outgoing charm; DePasquale is the curmudgeonly chef who prefers to stay in the kitchen.
"Jason is like my little brother. You can't shake him," DePasquale says.
Early this year, DePasquale called Merighi and pitched the idea of opening a restaurant together. He had the site in mind.
"It's just the way they promote the town; the mayor had been after us for years to come here," says DePasquale, who lives in Buena.
Like the d�cor, DePasquale's menu is simple. "We tried to keep everything under $20, which is very affordable," DePasquale says.
Among lunch selections, bruschetta salad ($7.95) is popular. It's baby arugula with diced tomatoes and red onion with crustini, topped with roasted plum tomatoes and marinated steak with a balsamic reduction.
Penne ala vodka ($7.95 at lunch, $10.95 at dinner) also is a standout, consisting of saut�ed pancetta and garlic in a light vodka rosa sauce. Beer-battered cod ($9.95) is a healthy portion of filet of fried cod, topped with diced tomatoes and fresh mozzarella with fresh basil in balsamic vinaigrette, served with French fries tossed in Old Bay seasoning.
Here's a nice touch: Lunch entrees are served with soda, iced tea or coffee. Among dinner choices, Merighi says his personal favorite is seafood fra Diablo ($19.95). It's saut�ed shrimp, clams, mussels, lump crabmeat and scallops in a red or white spicy pomodoro sauce over pasta of your choice.
There are more than a dozen pasta dishes on the menu, including gnocchi marinara and Bolognese ($12.95 and $13.95), made from DePasquale's grandmother's recipe. Don't bother asking him for the secret, though.
"It's a pride you take in it," DePasquale says cagily. "It's love. I could teach you all my recipes, but if you don't have that pride, it won't turn out right."
Other pastas are brought in from Conte's, including gluten-free varieties of manicotti, cavetelli and ravioli, DePasquale says.
Next to the fra Diablo, Merighi says his next favorite dish is pollo Milanese ($14.95), breaded chicken cutlet served on a bed of saut�ed spinach and topped with fresh mozzarella, with penne pasta tossed in a roasted plum tomato sauce, finished with a drizzle of balsamic reduction.
Three fish also adorn the menu - tilapia, ahi tuna and salmon ($15.95, $18.95 and $16.95, respectively). All are pan-seared, served with a side of saut�ed zucchini, onions and roasted red-skin potatoes, prepared either over cold seafood salad; with Mediterranean olive tempenade; samorigllo, a puree of olive oil, oregano, lemon, capers, anchovies, rosemary, garlic and olives; or with crab encrusted with spinach and roasted peppers.
Merighi and DePasquale are enjoying their joint business venture.
"With Jason, it's fun," DePasquale says. "He keeps me locked down, keeps my head straight."
After years of hopping around the restaurant business working for other people, DePasquale says he has found home.
"This is it for me," he says. "I have 10 more years left, then I'm getting a little boat and some flip flops and I'm done."
In the meantime, he is doing phenomenal homestyle cooking at Gina's.
Gina's Ristorante
WHERE: 110 N. High Street, Millville
WHEN: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday; closed Sunday (except for private parties)
HOW MUCH: Lunch: soups $3.95; salad, wraps and entrees $6.95 to $8.95. Dinner: appetizers $5.95 to $8.95; salads $3.50 to $10.95; pasta $10.95 to $16.95; chicken and veal $10.95 to $16.95; seafood $15.95 to $18.95; filet $19.95.
SERVICES: BYOB; major credit cards (no American Express); takeout; reservations for parties of seven or more
MORE INFO: 856-825-4241
BETWEEN YOU AND ME: Millville's Glasstown Arts District definitely is on the upswing. Third Fridays are a great time to check out its 12 blocks of restaurants, art galleries and studios, shops and boutiques. Go to www.3rdfriday.org for more information.