Denino's Greenwich Village of Manhattan Inaugural Review Our Coverage Sponsored by Fresh Origins
Owners and Brothers Steven and Joe Castellano with their winning Denino A Salute!
Happiness in Manhattan is the Castellano family and pizza.
The whole Castellano family!
It is just fabulous when the whole team shows up the first time: this much enthusiasm makes us very happy. Everyone should exude as much joy as this family.
Steven, Nicholas, Lucy, Joseph, Joe and Susan Castellano
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For anyone that thinks that all the brotherly love in the world is in Philadelphia, we've got two words for you:
You're wrong.
Steven and Joe Castellano are brothers and the proud owners of Denino's, one of the hottest new restaurants to grace Manhattan. It began as a brand in 1937 in Staten Island, and the Castellanos are making it shine bright in Manhattan since its recent opening on July 13, 2016. It is the first Manhattan location ever for this brand, and it was opened by these two brothers.
It is the first purchased franchise ever for Denino's.
Steven and Joe grew up in Staten Island, and avid readers will remember our friend Mover and Shaker Steve Violetta put Staten Island on the map of Whom You Know. Joe was a New York City fireman and retired in 2011; however, for the 28 years before starting this last July, he also worked at the original Denino's on Staten Island.
How smart this Denino family is to have these two guys carry their legacy to the major leagues of Manhattan! This is our first visit, and it was competitive.
We began with a House Salad; it is exactly as you'd want a green salad to be and it's straightforward nature set the tone for the solid high-quality cuisine that delighted us in the evening's perpetuity. You're not going to want your edible experience to conclude so you'll have to plan on going back. They thoughtfully placed the balsamic on the side for Ms. Pretty Picky.
We were thrilled that their whole family was there for the review.
If you're going to start a business, it should be your joy to be there all the time and it's clear that for this family, it is a vocation.
We wonder about places where people think they are doing us a favor when they all come-it's your restaurant so you should want to be there!
Eating too many fried foods is not a recipe for success to look your best in Mover and Shaker Donna Degnan's new collection, but we can enthusiastically assure you that the Fried Calamari is simply sublime at Denino's and totally worthy of your calorie allowance. They arrive in a basket and are light, crisp and ideally breaded. The calamari sauce is standout and properly thick and flavored well. So far, it is a secret as to what is in it but maybe we will ask them again.
Everyone knows that Peachy Deegan worships at the altar of Chicken Parm, and the magnificent platter of Chicken Parmesean at Denino's is highly convincing. We had ours with traditional spaghetti. The flavor and ratios of cheese to sauce to chicken was amazingly spot-on and you should know that this location has all the original recipes of the venue that began in 1937 across the water.
The depth of this menu is strong Italian American, and the Grinder/Panini section is to be applauded too. Their signature Denino Panini caught not only our eye but also our stomach. Everything is fresh and made daily we were told, and Roasted Peppers and Fresh Mozzarella graced this lovely panini, which hit the spot.
You cannot try Italian without including pasta, and the Penne Vodka was classically delicious. The sauce added the right amount of oomph without overwhelming the pasta, and to us it was one of those kinds of dishes that tasted even better the next day when the sauce was more soaked in. It obviously was also great fresh.
And all of the above is what they can do not even counting the pizza!
But you know the pizza counts.
We always order vegetables on our pizza, and they thought we should try the straight cheese pie for contrast. We were really happy with both, and the emphasis on pizza here is significant.
Broccoli, peppers, onions, mushroom and fresh garlic were all strong contributors to the great success of the veggie pie.
The architecture of the pizza crust itself is among the very best we've seen. See Joe demonstrate! Not only are the Castellanos some of the most talented people we've seen recently making a review debut, but also some of the most fun. You want to eat at a place where the owners care as much as they do and have such terrific personalities!
You know we don't write on the ordinary.
We write on the extraordinary.
And by now they could see that Peachy was a total pizza monster (but one that drinks her wine with a pinky out.) Steven and Joe insisted that we also try some of their artisan versions of pizza, and we can tell you that we ate this pizza for breakfast until it was gone after this review! Actions speak louder than words.
Above meet the phenomenal Deninos A Salute: fresh mozzarella, ricotta, arugula, lemon dressing, and shaved reggiano parmesean.
Below meet the Clam Pie (which Ms. No Seafood on My Pizza changed her name to Ms. PleaseMakeMeClamPiePrettyPlease): fresh garlic, parsley, and olive oil with clams and a sprinkle of grated cheese and no sauce.
These both are quite elevated pizza endeavors and for the culinary enthusiasts that want more, more, more! These make your tastebuds do virtual cartwheels and are respectively simply stunning. We liked the second two better than the first two, though we really loved those as well.
Do NOT MISS the Clam Pie!!!!
Denino's Greenwich Village is Terrific Takeout and we look forward to seeing what they do next!
