Restaurant Veterans Open Italian Wine and Food Store

Today, two partners in foodservice, Joe Cardinale and Joby Wetzel, launched their Italian wine shop and specialty food store in Columbia, South Carolina. Alimentari Don Luigi opened next door to Cardinale’s popular Italian sandwich restaurant, Enzo’s.

Wetzel, who previously had been the sous chef at Terra, a fine dining restaurant in West Columbia, and Cardinale joined forces in 2022 to open Bar Gran Sasso, which they describe as a “Venetian-style” restaurant and bar, also in Columbia. That venue has been closed since December for renovations.

In the meantime, Cardinale and Wetzel are taking their love for Italian food and wine to the new retail location, which is named after Cardinale’s second great grandfather, according to reports. The two have built a following among local consumers through the operation of Enzo’s and Bar Gran Sasso, Cardinale told The Post and Courier.

“We got them to drink Italian wines and lesser-known varietals, and the community put trust in us,” said Cardinale. “Now, we have all of those ingredients, wine and knowledge here. This is just a broken-down version of the restaurant.”

Alimentari Don Luigi will feature wines from every region of Italy, according to The Post and Courier, along with an assortment of gourmet and imported Italian grocery items, such as pasta, sauces, Italian snacks, and deli meats, including items featured in Italian delis in New Jersey and bone-in Tennessee Country Ham.

The two also plan to introduce less-familiar items over time, such as products made from bones and organ meat, they told the news source.

The store is decorated with photos of winemaking and with pieces of vintage winemaking equipment.

At Enzo’s, Cardinale has carved out a niche as an authentic Italian sandwich shop offering a selection of hot and cold sandwiches with names like The Uncle Louie and The Gigi. The sandwiches seek to replicate the offerings of Italian delis in the Northeast, with Italian cold cuts such as prosciutto and Genoa salami, cheeses such as provolone and fresh mozzarella, and traditional toppings including giardiniera, roasted red peppers, vodka sauce, and pesto. Hot sandwiches feature chicken cutlets or meatballs.

Bar Gran Sasso, meanwhile, focuses on more upscale Italian fare. Before closing for renovations, its family-style Sunday Suppers included dishes such as Pastasciutta, Spezzatino all’Uva, Chicken Saltimbocca, and Pork Peperonata. The restaurant also conducted food and wine tastings with a variety of Italian snacks, cheeses, and wines.

Alimentari Don Luigi will also feature some of the most popular dishes from Bar Gran Sasso in the prepared foods section of the store, according to The Post and Courier.

“You can go somewhere and get a nice bottle of wine, or you can go somewhere [and get] something nice to prepare for dinner,” Wetzel said. “But we want to have the best of both worlds.”