Amore Italian Restaurant & Wine Bar Now Open At Wegmans East Avenue Rochester Store

ROCHESTER, NY – Remember that Dean Martin song that begins, “When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie that’s amore?” Of course you do! Amore means love in Italian, and that’s the name Wegmans chose for its newest restaurant venture, which opened June 17, 2013.

Amore Italian Restaurant and Wine Bar celebrates much-loved Italian and Italian-American dishes that generations have embraced – pizzas, ‘homemade’ pasta, antipasti, meat slow-cooked for tenderness and flavor, and fresh seafood. But diners may discover that these favorites seem more delicious than ever at Amore, where they’re made fresh with premium ingredients. Overseeing it all are two veterans of restaurant operations, Executive Chef Russell Ferguson and Restaurant Manager Jigmed Latshang.

Amore is open for lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. seven days a week. Dinner is served 5:30-9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 5:30-10 p.m Friday and Saturday. The Aperitivo menu, served any time, highlights antipasti, salumi (Italian cured meats), and authentic Italian cheeses.

Licensed for wine and beer, Amore’s wine list features Italian labels like Zenato, Sassicaia and Ruffino. A Cruvinet temperature-controlled wine dispensing system provides 2, 4, or 6 oz. tastings of fine wines. Italian beers such as Peroni and Moretti are offered, as well as more familiar wines and beers.

Private dining is available in Amore’s Tower Room, a uniquely decorated space for up to 10 guests.

Beloved dishes, better than ever

Take Amore’s pizza as an example. The handcrafted, hearth-baked pies are made with first-class ingredients and come in about 10 varieties. The Meatball and Banana Pepper pizza is topped with imported Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, Italian Classics meatballs, hot banana peppers, and whole-milk mozzarella. It’s hearth-baked in a Wood Stone® commercial oven that Executive Chef Ferguson raves about. “A lot of engineering went into the beehive-shaped design that brings heat back to the hearth. You see flames, but there’s also an infrared burner under the hearth that gives us the pinpoint temperature control we need. We’ve worked on creating a pizza dough on the thin side, but with real character. When our pizza comes out from the stone hearth, the edges are crispy and lightly charred – just the way we want.”

While the 11-inch pizzas – big enough to share – should be a drawing card for Amore, there are plenty of other menu items to like. Daily specials like Tuscan-Braised Spare Ribs, Lamb Shank Bollito Misto, or Crispy Porchetta capture the rich, layered flavors that develop with patient, slow cooking.

Each day, the kitchen makes one kind of fresh pasta with a pasta machine from Italy for that day’s pasta special. But any day of the week you can order updated versions of standards like Spaghetti and Meatballs, made with big, chewy bucatini pasta imported from Italy; Eggplant Parmesan; or Jumbo Cheese Ravioli in a zucchini/tomato sauce, topped with the Italian herb nipotella (like a blend of mint and oregano) that’s fresh from Wegmans Organic Farm in Canandaigua.

Like stepping into a gracious Italian villa

Amore is attached to Wegmans’ newest store on East Avenue in Rochester. But when you step inside, you might feel like you’re in a centuries-old Italian villa with a few modern touches. Stone and stucco walls, arched windows and exposed timbers suggest historical roots. But there are also contemporary touches that lend comfort and sophistication, like the light fixtures that float over the wine bar, or the bright red bar stools and eye-catching tiles around the pizza oven.

“While traveling in Italy, I noticed how ancient estates had been restored from ruined conditions.  Original walls and beams were preserved while the interiors were completely refitted with modern and simple fixtures, says Stency Wegman, design consultant on the project.  “We have tried to recreate the feeling that this is an old building restored from ruin. The tower is traditional Italian estate-style architecture. The restaurant is fairly simple and cozy, with low decorated ceilings, inspired by the way they would have appeared many years ago.”

In 2011, Wegmans sent a team abroad to visit countryside towns and restaurants in Italy and Switzerland, like Chesa Veglia, a jewel of a restaurant in the Swiss Alps. “We looked at ancient towns and beautiful old properties, thinking about how Amore’s design could capture that warmth and feeling. We used materials like those we saw – stone, stucco, exposed timbers,” says Corinne Chiogna, Wegmans’ director of store planning and designer on the project. Amore’s timbers look weathered because they’re reclaimed from very old buildings.

The restaurant’s color scheme is warm earth tones – mostly shades of ivory and brown. But you can’t miss the Ferrari-red accents like the tiles around the pizza oven. “Amore means love and the red-tiled oven is the heart of our kitchen,” Chiogna explains.

Jigmed Latshang believes that Amore will be easy to love. “You’ll find healthy Mediterranean eating at its best here — fresh seasonal vegetables, flavorful olive oil, and a glass of a delicious Italian red wine. You’ll hear Italian music that lifts your spirits, and you’ll savor the aromas of the sauces simmering in the kitchen.”

So take one of Amore’s 85 seats, and without delay, mangiamo!

Wegmans Food Markets, Inc. is an 81-store supermarket chain with stores in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland, and Massachusetts.  The family-owned company, founded in 1916, is recognized as an industry leader and innovator.  Wegmans has been named one of the ‘100 Best Companies to Work For’ by FORTUNE magazine for 16 consecutive years.  In 2013, Wegmans ranked #5 on the list.

Source: Wegmans Food Markets, Inc.