A lot can happen in a month.
Just ask Luigi Vasconez.
Four weeks ago, he closed his popular Italian restaurant on Del Prado Boulevard in Cape Coral.
“We finished our agreement after five years,” Vasconez said, referring to his lease that expired at the end of August. “So I am here.”
“Here” is his new Luigi Ristorante Italiano on Chiquita Boulevard. It opened on Sept. 18 in the space recently vacated by Gulyas Factory and Amy’s Winehouse.
“This is much better,” he said of his new 80-seat restaurant. “It’s smaller. The last was 2,500 square feet, 128 seats.”
And neither Vasconez nor his restaurant has missed a beat.
Luigi is still Luigi
Luigi Vasconez is the owner of Luigi Ristorante Italiano in Cape Coral.
Only two things differ from the old Luigi Ristorante — there’s less seating now, and only beer and wine are served (“you need 120 seats for the full license. We have 80”).
Other than that, nothing has changed.
“I have the same people working for me,” he said. “Everyone is the same with me. Four in the front. Three in the kitchen. All the same.”
And just as importantly …
Luigi Ristorante Italiano moved from Del Prado Boulevard to this new Chiquita Boulevard location in less than a month.
“We have the same menu,” Vasconez continued. “Every day we have specials, two appetizers and four main dishes.”
And this is what makes Luigi special.
“I make everything myself,” said Vasconez, who grew up in his family’s restaurant businesses, mostly in New York. Luigi is the second restaurant he’s owned — the first was on Long Island for several years.
The menu begins with appetizers, from burrata over 24-month-aged Prosciutto di Parma to sautéed mussels in a white wine sauce with Calabrian spicy pepper, shallot, garlic and tomato.
Scampi limoncello in one of several appetizers at Luigi Ristorante Italiano in Cape Coral
Our scampi limoncello was a table favorite thanks to its flavorful shrimp and Vasconez’s lemon garlic and limoncello sauce. We also loved his house-made dressing that perfectly complemented our spinach salad (one of several salads offered) with portobello mushrooms.
Even his calamari is above and beyond — either sautéed in olives, capers and a spicy cherry pepper sauce or delicately fried to a perfect golden hue.
“I do it myself,” Vasconez said. “It’s not frozen and fried calamari.”
Luigi Ristorante Italiano in Cape Coral recently took over the space vacated by Gulyas Factory and Amy’s Winehouse.
And he’s just getting warmed up — pasta, chicken, veal and seafood classics are next on the menu, and they are glorious.
Think penne al salmone, bouillabaisse, gnocchi al porcini, linguine seafood fra diablo, veal chop caprese style ala Luigi, plus chicken parmigiana, marsala and Francese and so much more.
There’s so much to love here, we couldn’t decide.
So we turned to Vasconez.
We’d order Luigi Ristorante Italiano’s linguine alla Michele over and over again.
“Do you like pasta? Seafood?” he asked. Before we even stopped nodding, off to the kitchen he went.
When he returned, it was with his linguine alla Michele.
Linguine with shrimp, Italian sausage, sun-dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, mushrooms and green peas in a white cream truffle sauce (oh, the sauce!) — it couldn’t have been more perfect.
Which pretty much describes our experience here.
The 40-ounce cowboys steak was a recent weeknight special at Luigi Ristorante Italiano in Cape Coral.
Seated toward the front of the dining room, we had front-row seats to a mouthwatering parade of the dishes Vasconez proudly delivered to each table. The massive 40-ounce cowboy steak looked and smelled amazing. A lovely octopus appetizer — a special that day — was a fragrant and visual work of art. And two seafood risotto orders, one red and one white, had us making plans for a return visit.
Feel right at home at Luigi
Vasconez, who hails from Rome, built up an extremely loyal following during his five-year run along Del Prado Boulevard, just south of Cornwallis Parkway.
Luigi Ristorante Italiano in Cape Coral has a few high-top tables on one side of the restaurant.
The previous restaurant was half wine bar, half dining room, separated by a small bar.
Now it’s all dining room with low-top tables and a couple of high-tops.
“I have a lot of customers,” he said. “I need the room.”
Each time we’ve been to the new place, at least one regular from the original location drops by and is greeted like family.
Then Vasconez dashes off to the kitchen to welcome them with a favorite dish.
“A lot of people follow me,” Vasconez said. “I have so much support from the Cape Coral community.”
Count us among them. We’ll be back soon.
Luigi Ristorante Italiano, 3816 Chiquita Blvd., Cape Coral; open 4-9 p.m. daily; reservations strongly suggested by calling (239) 542-3030; luigiristoranteitalianocc.com or on Facebook
Robyn George is a food and dining reporter for The News-Press. Connect at rhgeorge@fortmyer.gannett.com
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This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Popular Italian restaurant returns to Cape Coral. And it’s a gem