Anthony's Italian Eats now open for lunch and delivery in Clayton

From the Gianino restaurant family, Anthony’s is markedly different from its past or present siblings, with only 10 seats inside and 20 outside.

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It might just might be the region's most charming 800-square-foot restaurant. The food’s pretty impressive, too.

Early last month, Anthony’s Italian Eats quietly opened at 7641 Wydown in Clayton, in the former Manhattan Express space. (Café Manhattan is still open at 505 S. Hanley.) Owned by Tony Gianino and Joey Barczewski, Anthony’s is technically the ninth eatery under the Gianino family umbrella; there's also Bill Gianino’s, three Joey B’s locations, Frankie G’s, Frankie Gianino’s in Imperial, Billy G’s, and Aero Hawk Catering. (Sidebar: In 1954, Roy Russo and Frank Gianino, Tony’s grandfather, founded a legendary basement restaurant. The name—Rossino’s—was a portmanteau of their names.)

As the young partners point out, Anthony’s is markedly different from its past or present siblings. With only 10 seats inside and 20 outside, it’s a more specialized endeavor.

“For years, Joey and I have wanted to showcase the foods we remember eating when we were kids,” he says, “simple dishes made using the highest-quality ingredients, many of them imported from Italy and Sicily.”

But the duo questioned the acceptance of such items, so they opted for a small, manageable space. Sounding like a restaurant economist, Barczewski calls it “decreasing the variable of error,” as in fewer people, fewer items, fewer square feet.

“We want to grow the Gianino’s brand," adds Gianino. "We’d love to go out to Cottleville, for example, but staffing bigger restaurants has recently become difficult. We’ll see how the smaller Anthony’s model works—that may be where the growth is.”

With such a small footprint, delivery was integral to the business plan. “To be honest, being 30 seconds from both the Moorlands and downtown Clayton, we purchased the business mainly for the delivery potential,” says Barczewski. “And since this is so different from the big restaurants/big food fabric we’ve been cut from, we’re taking it very slowly.”

The restaurant is initially opening for dinner, then lunch, then delivery, then full corporate catering. The delivery component starts today and uses in-house drivers, not a third-party service. “Too expensive, too little control, too many problems,” says Gianino. “We want to manage what we do every step of the way.” In that vein, the partners set the delivery radius at three miles from the store.

Gianino’s corporate chef Jamie Brust helped fine-tune the menu items. The inaugural version includes 10 pizzas, five salads, and 10 sandwiches. Desserts range from the expected cannoli (shells are made on The Hill and filled in house) to the unexpected (pints of Serendipity ice cream).

In the grab-and-go case are meats, cheeses, non-alcoholic drinks, and salad items, sold as sides or in bulk. Options include an olive salad, pasta salad, bean salad (made with bell peppers, chopped tomato, chick peas, and cannellini beans), and a cucumber/onion/tomato/fresh ricotta salad.

The pizzas come in two sizes: small (12 inch) and large (16 inch). There are three homemade crust options: St. Louis-style (topped with Provel), whole wheat, and “Grandma-style,” (the just-thicker-than-thin signature crust). “Almost all the customers so far have requested [the Grandma-style] crust, which surprised us,” says Barczewski. It has a hint of cornmeal, which adds a structure and distinctive crunch; it's the kind of crust to eat in its entirety, not leave behind in tatters.

Choose from two sauces: a red (with D.O.P. San Marzano tomatoes) or a white (made with Ricotta, Fontina, Parmesan, and heavy cream). All pizzas are finished with a few shakes of “pizza dust,” a combination of Parmigiano-Reggiano and a secret blend of spices that the partners declined to divulge.

The Gianino family restaurants are known for big portions, and the sandwiches at Anthony’s follow suit. They measure 7 inches, but they eat like a footlong because of generous portions of Volpi salami, Parma Cotta ham, and Provolone that’s D.O.P certified (“high dollar meats,” as Gianino refers to them).

Anthony’s is likely the only 10-seat restaurant in the region that gets its bread from three different suppliers: Fazio (for Italian baguettes and Muffuletta bread), Marconi (for take-home table bread—“it’s like eating cake,” says Gianino), and Vitale (for cannoli shells and split-top bread for the top-selling Meatball Parm sandwich).

Barczewski favors the zippy Atta Boy, with spicy coppa, hot soppressa ham, pepperoni, ghost pepper cheese, vinaigrette, and Italian hot longs (similar to a longer sport pepper). A homemade salam de testa sandwich (popularized locally by Gioia’s Deli) will be an occasional special.

Expect quick service at lunch and full (table) service at night, when dinner items might include a special recipe cannelloni, lasagna, or risotto, according to Gianino, who plans to dole out special entrées and sides based on demand and seasonality.

A small selection of wines are available (three  whites, three reds, and Prosecco), and, like the rest of the menu, the beer selection (Bud Light and Blue Moon) is in the “more items coming soon” stage. The partners are also discussing the possibility of “Sangria Saturdays” and/or “Bloody Sundays,” extending outdoors. Look for mom-and-pop touches on the 20-seat patio: red-and-white checked tablecloths, bulbous Victorian red glass candles, red umbrellas, and an old-school logo.

The interior is both clever and attractive. Lori Olsen McElvain (who was also responsible for both Rosalita’s Cantina locations) designed the space. The main colors are black, white, and honeyed shades of unfinished wood. There’s a collection of family photos that could have been plucked from a shotgun hallway on The Hill, as well as comfortable chairs and a chandelier made from cut sections of various wine bottles.

Observant patrons will notice the black striated wall covering and shelving built using knotty pine boards and black iron pipe. Behind the shelves is the ubiquitous white subway tile, here an accent rather than an affront. Two uncluttered rows of wine bottles rise to the ceiling. (Most intriguing are those marked with “$15, Balboa” in white ink Sharpie. We never asked whether the genesis was the explorer, the box office boxer, or something more cryptic.)

Tucked in a side wall are an array of pastas, sauces, balsamics, and olives from Italy and Sicily, items not found anywhere else in town, according to Gianino, hinting at the perfect fodder for an Italian gourmet gift basket.

From a design and food quality standpoint, there’s no place quite like Anthony’s. As Barczewski's 12-year-old-son, Oliver, put it, “It’s just unique.”

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Anthony's Italian Eats

7641 Wydown, Clayton, Missouri 63105

314-721-3233

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Hours, 11 a.m. - 9 p.m. daily

Moderate

Closed

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