Chef Of Taylor Swift’s Favorite NYC Resto Is Opening A Joint In South Florida
Chef Anthony Vitolo from Taylor Swift's favorite Italian restaurant in New York City, Emilio's Ballato, has reportedly partnered with Miami's Rob Crosoli to open his new Italian joint in South Florida.
The executive chef's newest restaurant, named Vitolo, is located inside the Conrad Fort Lauderdale Beach Hotel. According to Chef Anthony, he wants his restaurant to be a place where everyone is welcome.
"We're just trying to create an experience for all our customers in the area," he said. "It doesn't matter if you're a Joe Shmoe or a celebrity."
His partner Crosoli also said, "We want to be approachable, and we want to be welcoming to everybody because everybody deserves that type of dining experience. We're just two regular guys who are very family-oriented, and we want to bring a little of that to the Fort Lauderdale community."
About Vitolo's menu, it will be more on seafood meals since the restaurant's location is at the beach, but the dishes will be kept classic Italian. "I'm staying true to myself, staying true to my family and all my family recipes," said Chef Anthony.
Back in New York City, Chef Anthony's family-owned Italian restaurant is known for hosting top celebrities like pop superstar Taylor Swift.
The American singer-songwriter has reportedly dined at the Italian restaurant with other celebrities, including Blake Lively, Sophie Turner and Britanny Mahomes.
It has been visited by other personalities such as George Clooney, Denzel Washington, Justin Bieber, Rihanna and Barack Obama, too, per People.
Emilio's Ballato first opened its doors in 1956. These days, Emilio Sr.'s son, Chef Anthony Vitolo, leads the kitchen as its executive chef.
The walk-in-only first-come, first-served restaurant is loved for its classic Italian-American dishes, especially its signature veal parmigiana.
Other popular dishes on the menu are caprese, calamari pasta e fagioli, Caesar salad and grilled octopus and tripe in tomato sauce. If something is not on the menu, Chef Anthony is known for considering special requests.
Now that Chef Anthony has a new restaurant in Florida, he assured his New York City patrons that he won't leave his post at Emilio's Ballato completely and plans to travel back and forth to oversee both kitchens with his family's support.
According to him, he has created a great team in his New York City restaurant, and he doesn't have to be there 24/7.
"I have my family's support, so I'm going to be at both locations," he added.
