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TheBuzz Erika Engle |
Mitrotti to introduce
new Monsarrat menu
(and murals)A new casual dining restaurant featuring Italian-themed American favorites from a veteran restaurateur will open at 3046 Monsarrat Ave., former site of Zazou European Cafe.
The concept, interior and menu of Pronto Grill are the work of Cafe Sistina chef and co-owner Sergio Mitrotti. "It's not fast food, it's not fine dining, it's a new hybrid," he said.
Once it opens in about four weeks the simple menu will offer four pizzas, four panini-style sandwiches, four pastas, four salads and four burgers, as well as specials for dinner and on the weekends. Mitrotti's burgers will include lamb burgers and venison burgers.
"It's not going to be what you can get anywhere else. I don't copy," Mitrotti said.
The average check will be competitive with other neighborhood eateries at between $6 and $10, he said.
The "pronto" in the name of the restaurant is akin to the way the phone is answered in Italy. It means, "ready," said attorney Charles Hurd, secretary of parent company Cafe Piazza Inc. Mitrotti is president and treasurer as well as restaurant and menu designer and mural painter. Brian Sajona is vice president of the new company, following several years under Mitrotti's wing at Cafe Sistina. Four employees will be hired to staff Pronto Grill, Hurd said.
Zazou quietly closed in December after a well-hyped opening in June 2001. It got its buzz from Mitrotti's involvement, but that ended after a few months with his resignation over creative differences.
Trained as a graphic artist, the Turin, Italy-born Mitrotti is repainting the interior work he did before to distance it from its predecessor. He has also changed murals at Cafe Sistina more than a few times, out of an inner need to create. Trouble is, walls only provide so much space. "In the kitchen there is always more room," he said. Up to 70 percent of the dishes at Cafe Sistina are original creations. "I cook my own soul food," said Mitrotti.
Growing up in Italy his mother cooked three meals a day. "We were eating like little kings."
That is, until he came to a realization about his future. "In order to assert your independence you have to show your mother you can feed yourself."
He's been cooking ever since, but takes issue with the term "authentic" to describe Italian food served at most restaurants."My best schooling is eating well and loving food. In Italy, food is religion."
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin.
Call 529-4302, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached
at: eengle@starbulletin.com