Celebrate the Olympics and Eat Like an Italian in St. Louis

By Suzanne Corbett

The XXV Winter Milano Cortina Olympic Games has stirred my emotions and made me hungry. Hungry for Italian cuisine.

Italian food and drink I can easily indulge in right here in the heart of Cardinal Nation, St. Louis, where Italian restaurants, groceries and bakeries abound on and beyond the legendary Hill (America’s last Little Italy). Making it easy to enjoy some of the best Italian fare anytime, right here in your own neighborhood.

In my neck of the woods there are several great Italian eateries ready to help satisfy culinary cravings triggered by the Milian Olympic Games. Two standouts located in South St. Louis County are Trattoria Toscana and Viviano’s Festa Italiano. Each offers authentic and uniquely different  dining experiences which embrace the best of the best Italian cuisine.

Trattoria Toscana, located near the intersection of Gravois and South Lindbergh, has become a South County destination for fine Italian dining. A family operation created by cousins Alban Zui and Chef Tika Ceko, who served as executive chef at Dominic’s on the Hill, have redefined classy causal white tablecloth dining. Chef Tika’s son, Angelo Ceko, who serves as restaurant manager, explained the menu and its unique stye.

“My father and Alban are from a region in Albania where the cooking is heavily influenced by Italian culture. These influences reflect Chef Tika’s grandmother cooking when she cooked for Italians,” Ceko said. “ I like to say Trattoria Toscana has fined tuned Italian cooking and take pride in providing authentic Italian dishes with flare.”

To celebrate the Milan Olympics, Consider toasting the games with a glass of Trattoria Toscana’s house made Limoncello, then order up Chef Tika’s, Veal Milianese.

One of Milian’s signature dishes, Veal Milianese is an elegant dish of thinly pounded veal that’s lightly breaded, pan fired, topped with parmesan and served with a lemon wedge. “ A simplistic dish with phenomenal flavor,” says Ceko who also recommends Linguine Alla Amy. A dish that you won’t find anywhere else in the area created with love, inspired by family, and features beef tenderloin tips, shiitake mushrooms, spinach, sun dried tomatoes in a rich tomato sauce over linguine. It’s warm, comforting, and made from the heart — just like everything we serve.”

Family traditions are strong and thriving in Fenton at Viviano’s Festa Italiano. A combination Italian eatery and market, operated by Micheal Viviano who shares his passion for great Italian foods with everyone who walks in the door.

Viviano, who hails from the famous Hill grocery store, Viviano & Sons, learned the family business working alongside his grandparents. Then with a desire to bring a taste of The Hill into the South County area, he opened Viviano’s Festa Italiano to Fenton, shown in photo, right.

“As the third generation of my family working in the food business, I’ve been blessed to have the opportunity for the past 22 years to keep feeding the St. Louis area great Italian food products,” Viviano said. As he explained what makes Viviano’s Festa Italiano different is they’re a combination restaurant and market.

“We have an Italian market right here that can supply all the spices, cheese, olive oils, cuts of pasta that you can’t find in some of the other bigger stores, he said. “Of course, you love to go to The Hill – it’s historical and it’s a wonderful destination stop, but we’ve created our own destination here through the people who have come to love and enjoy what we do,”

Of those many culinary offerings and services Viviano’s offers there is carryout catering along with fresh sliced meats and cheese in the deli available to create your own great antipasto tray. Just don’t ask for charcuterie.  It’s antipasto.

“Grandma aways said, don’t say charcuterie Micheal. We don’t talk like that. We’re Italian, we say antipasto.”

To create your own antipasto tray Micheal recommends starting with a salami rose. Made by folding and or rolling thin sliced salami or into a flower shape. Place it centered on a tray and add different kinds of salami, coppa and prosciutto around it. Then add cheeses such as Fontanella, Provolone and Asiago. Finish with lots of  olives and add red peppadew peppers for color. Complement with fresh bread, breadsticks. And don’t forget the cannoli, which as Micheal says makes the party “Nice’a nice’a.”