WILMINGTON — It has only been a matter of weeks since Al Cervini took over the location where Crispino’s Pizza used to be located, but it didn’t take much to convince him to make the move to Wilmington and open Rosalie’s Trattoria.
Cervini first fell in love with Wilmington when he was stationed in Jacksonville with the Marines and would come to the Port City every chance he got.
When he got a phone call from the owner of Cripino’s asking him to take over his building Cervini jumped at the opportunity — and only five weeks later Rosalie’s Trattoria is almost ready to open.
“He [Crispino] actually recruited us, we came down, we loved the place – I love Wilmington and I used to be in Wilmington all the time, I was a Marine in Jacksonville so this was my weekend spot,” Cervini said.
Rosalie’s takes its name from Cervini’s wife — one of the best parts for Cervini was getting to name the restaurant.
This is not Cervini’s first go with restaurants and he has owned two spots in the Raleigh area, on mixed fusion and one Italian.
Though he might have spent a lot of time in the South, Cervini is originally from New York so he knows a thing or two about Italian food.
For the past year he has been working with his head chef Romero, who Cervini says is the best in the business, and now he is excited to bring the authentic Italian cooking to Wilmington.
“It’s traditional Italian cooking made to order, there is nothing sitting in the back nothing exists before you ask for it, even the minestrone soup it’s made when you ask for it, it’s not sitting back there in a vat,” Cervini said.
What would an Italian restaurant be without fresh pizza? Rosalie’s offers a variety of traditional pizzas, as well as some more unique options like the seafood pizza complete with shrimp, clams, and ricotta cheese.
For dessert there is house-made Italian cheescake, cannoli, and tiramisu — but don’t expect the cheesecakes to last long, Cervini said.
“The cheesecake is made every day, or every other day by Romero himself every morning, depending on how much we go through. His cheesecakes don’t last more than two days, so at least every other day he is making a cheesecake — it might even be more down here,” he said.
Rosalie’s is set to open on Saturday and a full menu can be found online.
Despite opening in Wilmington during what most consider to be the “off season” Cervini is not worried about opening so late in the year — not with Romero’s cooking anyways.
“I am opening this restaurant to open this restaurant, not to be a billionaire. This is what I want to do and this is where I want to be,” he said.
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