When business partners Gilberto Petrucci and Amie Kyros decided to shutter the doors of their Il Bocconcino restaurant in Soho after 22 successful years to head uptown to East Harlem, friends and associates thought they had lost it. “Everybody told me I was crazy. But then again, when I opened Il Bocconcino in the Village, they called me crazy then,” Petrucci says with a laugh.
It seems Petrucci and Kyros have once again proved the naysayers wrong. Since setting up shop in East Harlem, the two have been serving customers such delicious Italian-fare as Chicken Sofia Loren and Golden Lobster alla Gilberto. The duo quickly expanded their brand to include three restaurants, including the newest addition, Gran Piatto d’Oro, which opened its doors in July. “We opened one on East 109th Street and another one on East 118th Street. Even after this, the people complained that [they] couldn’t find a table or chair,” he explains.
The quest for seating should be easier at Gran Piatto d’Oro’s Fifth Avenue location, which seats over 100 patrons and has space in the basement to accommodate private parties
While Petrucci handles the menu details, right down to personally training each cook, he allows the Ethiopian-born Kyros to work her magic with the restaurant’s décor. Kyros’ background with the Gucci fashion house came in handy as she set about giving the restaurant a stylish, yet comfy feel. “The aim was to create coziness and beauty,” she adds. “To me, people deserve beauty and good food.”
– ivory m. jones
