Italian chef and restaurateur Fabrizio Facchini is very well-known in America for his elevated, regional cooking (as detailed here by our contributor Li Valentine). He is also known for his high-profile roles in esteemed cultural organizations, such as the Italian Trade Agency, the Association of Italian Chefs in New York, Slow Food New York, Slow Food USA, and the Associazione Italiana Ambasciatori Del Gusto, as well as being the ambassador for legendary Italian food brands like Pasta di Martino, Riso Buono, and Urbani Truffles. More acclaim arrived for Chef Fabrizio after a successful humanitarian effort during Covid via his Italians Feed America organization. Less recognized, though, is a relentless entrepreneurial hustle and savvy that has borne a culinary empire in Long Island’s Nassau County and beyond. We caught up with Chef Fabrizio to detail his accomplishments and to find out what is coming next.
What brought you to the U.S. originally?
My wife and I bought a 14th century building in Le Marche in 2009. It was actually a borgo, a kind of little village that was previously a three-family home. We renovated the ancient space and opened a small restaurant in 2010 called Antico Borgo. After, we added rooms and suites to make it a boutique hotel with a swimming pool and all of the services. People began to arrive from around the world —many from England, Belgium and the U.S. — for vacations and destination weddings. Many of our guests would return every year, and we became friends. Some of our friends from the U.S. suggested we do something with our cuisine [in the U.S]. This was appealing because in 1997 I was an exchange student at the University of Central Florida, so I was already pretty familiar with the U.S., and I met a lot of people then who were still my friends many years later. Also, from a business standpoint, where we were located in Italy, the season is April or May to September or October. Basically, though not entirely, the money that we were making during the summer was being used for the expenses and everything during the winter. So my wife and decided to go to the US and give it a try.
How did this entrepreneurial adventure begin in the U.S.?
We started in California in partnership with a hospitality group with whom I created a different concept. We were able to sell for a profit. We started looking for another opportunity at the end of 2015. I received my investor visa in 2016 and began to open places in San Diego. I did concepts, also, for some other people that we sold. In 2017, some of my friends told me that there was a big hospitality group in upstate New York looking for someone to partner with on new restaurants.
So what happened?
We moved from San Diego to upstate New York, and I was collaborating with big groups, like Mazzone Hospitality and Compass Group. I opened some restaurants upstate and was pretty concentrated up there from 2017 to 2019. I got some offers to partner in the city during 2019, so I was running restaurants and catering venues in Midtown and the Meatpacking District. After the shutdown, everything became complicated. We kept everything going for as long as we could, but eventually, we had to shut them all down. Because of the pandemic, like a lot of chefs, I was doing a lot of catering on Long Island, because people were not coming to the city but staying on Long Island. I found out through a good friend that Cardinale Bakery in Syosset was for sale because they were struggling with Covid. This was a bakery that had been started by a guy, Luigi, from Bari [Puglia], 30 years prior, so we thought to purchase it from him, make renovations and reopen. And we did. A few months after, having had great success with the bakery, we started to look for other opportunities on Long Island.
What came next?
In early 2021, we found a nice Italian restaurant in Oyster Bay, on South Street, very close to the water, that was also struggling, so we took over the lease. It took us eight months to rebuild the place, put in the kitchen, get the license, and everything. This was our first Stellina, but in the meantime, we had also opened a small bakery and market in Oyster Bay, also named Cardinale. It’s a marketplace with everything Italian: Pasta di Martino, Balsamico from Giusti, the best extra virgin olive oil from Italy. It was a mix between a market and the production that we have in Cardinale Syosset—the cookies, baked goods, cakes. When we were ready, we opened Stellina very quietly. We just opened the door, and we became booked, many months in advance. People were responding, right away, to our food and atmosphere.
We have regulars from day one, and we just celebrated the 100th visit of a couple who has come almost every Friday night for dinner since we opened. We are very proud of this place as we do a very good revenue with only 10 tables inside and another six outside in summer. After a year of opening of Stellina, we decided to rename our bakeries “Stellina Bakery and Cafe.” Both of them were rebuilt and renamed with our design. We also added to the services, as we now do breakfast in the morning, hot food at lunch and dinner, with sandwiches also, plus the baked goods, naturally, and a lot of coffee and espresso—everything around Italian cuisine from breakfast through dinner. And we also opened Sabrina’s Candy & Creamery, which is basically a candy and chocolate shop, in Oyster Bay.
They must love you in and around Oyster Bay…
Yes, the people in the area are really liking what we’ve done. In 2022, I received the “Business Person of the Year” award from the Nassau County Chamber of Commerce. We’ve invested a lot in Oyster Bay, which is one of the biggest towns in Nassau County. It includes Syosset as one of its villages. And since then, we have continued to bring more to the area—not only the candy shop I mentioned but also The Wine Line - Kitchen & Bar in the village of Oyster Bay.
Is it an Italian wine bar?
It's not only Italian. We have a mixed bar menu there, where we offer some specialty tacos, pinsa, tuna tartare. Easy stuff to eat, with wines from around the world and specialty cocktails. We have a big outdoor space, so we have parties there during the summer. There’s a cigar night each week, and special events. We organized something with the actor Kelsey Grammer last summer because he lives nearby and has his own craft brewing company. It’s very social and people seem to really like it.
Are we missing any place?
We opened in March of this year Casa Stellina and Stellina Pizza, both in the heart of Farmingdale, not far from Oyster Bay, and next door to each other. These are spinoffs of Stellina. Casa Stellina has a similar menu to Stellina, but we are also doing Bistecca Fiorentina, tagliata, and a few other unique things. A big difference from Stellina is that we have a lot more space: 150 seats with a large covered area outside and a big bar. Stellina Pizza is of the “Pizza alla Pala” concept, like they do in Rome, and we have seating there for 30.
What else have you got in the works?
Oh, lots. Now we have two major projects that we are developing. One is in Roslyn, west of Oyster Bay, closer to the city, but still Nassau County. We don’t have a name yet, but the menu will be similar to Stellina but with more cuts of meat, lots of seafood, and crudo. There’s also a French bistro called L’Etoile. We are planning to open in a historical and beautiful brick building in Oyster Bay—something similar to Balthazar with steaks, seafood towers, fois gras, and charcuterie. There will be a speakeasy in the cellar, as well as a chef’s table. Below the cellar will be a place to age meats purchased in advance by customers.
You’re cool with the French thing?
I was born in Belgium and have lived in Switzerland. I’ve traveled to France often, so I’m very familiar with the cuisine. We are doing this with Prime Food Distribution, a Long Island-based distributor from whom we get many of our products. The idea is to bring things to Long Island that you can only find now in the city.
Beyond the chronic restaurant openings, what else are you up to?
Since the start of Covid, I developed a lot of airline business. I'm partnered with a facility in New Jersey that produces gourmet meals for Delta and American Airlines. I also do catering for the Italian airline, ITA. A new project, also outside of restaurants, that I’m really excited about is Buon Primo, a line of innovative, sustainable, authentic Italian "Ready to Eat" meals. These are entirely shelf-stable for up to 12 months, made in Italy with 100% Italian ingredients that are GMO-free with no artificial flavors and no preservatives. We have pastas and risottos, including vegetarian and gluten-free selections. We give a nice-sized portion that is around 11 to 12 ounces, and the price recommended to sell it at retail is between $5.99 to $6.99. Our meals are easy to store and carry, with no kind of refrigeration required and no water added. You just combine the sauce with the pasta or the rice and microwave for 30 seconds or cook in a pan for two minutes.
Where do your entrepreneurial instincts come from?
My mother was a hairstylist, and she started to work at 16 years old. When she was 25 or 26, she bought the business from her boss and ran it on her own. My father, who was a CPA at the beginning of his career for a big company, soon started his own office. He also became a FIFA player agent because my parents are crazy about soccer. So he was the manager of a very famous soccer player and had his own CPA office group for maybe 35 years. When I was born, both of my parents were already self-employed, so I grew up in that kind of mentality. I’ve never worked for someone else, except when I was young. I started my first company when I was 20 years old. Besides my training as a chef, I have degrees in marketing and also real estate. Before the financial crash of 2008, I was doing property development. I bought my first property at 21 years old. I would buy and renovate to sell or rent. This is something that I was doing when I was living in Belgium and other countries. I did this for a few years before taking my entrepreneurial spirit towards the world of food.
And we are all glad that you did!
Grazie!
