Frank and Carmelo Gabriele, owners of Il Bel Lago, thought they’d come up with the perfect concept to appeal to today’s casual, price-conscious diner. In January of this year, the brothers Gabriele, along with partners David Jones and Doug Tieber (area developers of over a dozen Buffalo Wild Wings stores) rolled out the fast-casual Cini Italian Chow (cini is short for arancini) at 374 S. Grand, adjacent to SLU, and opened Cini # 2 in May in the Colonial Marketplace at 8831 Ladue Rd (left).
The plans were for Cini to open the doors to fast fresh, Italian food in St. Louis via the popular “quick service” format. Cini would be, in the words of Frank Gabriele, “an Italian Chipotle.”
But neither unit ever really took off: the flagship location on Grand has been dark since late November and Ladue will shutter on December 21.
Customers first selected either a salad, pasta, or piadina (rolled flatbread), then choose from several proteins, vegetables, and scratch sauces. Items were prepared fast and to-order--the only hold-up was caused by customer indecision. The cini component—in this case, mini-arancinis—were stuffed several ways and served three to an order.
Concepts that were similar had been successful in other areas (like the multi-unit Piada Italian Street Food in Ohio), but “it just wasn’t a St. Louis thing,” Gabriele said in retrospect. “Neither unit really ever gained any traction. We struggled, especially at dinner.”
So after Christmas, Cini in Ladue will be transformed into something "more traditionally Italian, more in keeping with the needs of the neighborhood," says Gabriele. Giovanni’s Kitchen (named so as not to confuse it with Frank and Carmelo's father’s restaurant, Giovanni’s on the Hill) will offer a Tuscan-style menu, with pasta priced in the teens and entrees in the twenties.
A house-made chitarrina (square spaghetti) with shrimp, scallops and clams is $16; a filetto in crosta, a Chianti-marinated beef tenderloin, wrapped in bread dough, baked and served with Porcini ragout and rosemary/apple jam, is $22.
Unlike Cini, the kitchen in Giovanni’s Kitchen will be closed, not open; a small bar will be added as well, leaving a 60-seat dining room, with walls finished in white brick, “Tuscan rustic,” according to Gabriele. The renovation is expected to be completed by late February.
Future plans for 374 S. Grand have not yet been finalized. More on that location as we know it.
