“Chef Salvatore” opens own pizza shop, serving authentic Italian pies and pasta | Mon Valley Magazine

“Chef Salvatore,” as some refer to him, has labored in dining places from Florida to New York through his existence.

He is a former co-owner of the Italian Village in Belle Vernon. His enthusiasm was to personal a pizza and pasta store of his own. Then the pandemic got in the way of his aspiration come legitimate.

But “Salvatore’s Pizza and Pasta – Brooklyn’s Finest” came to be last slide.

“It’s my enthusiasm for cooking reliable Italian foods that drives me,’” reported Punturiero. “I have the information of baking dough increasing up in New York.

“My mother cooked each and every day, 2 times on Saturdays. I get satisfaction out of cooking. With the knowledge I have, cooking is just a significant aspect of me.”

His store capabilities a wide variety of pizzas – including N.Y. skinny crust and Sicilian thick sq., amongst some others. He also delivers calzones and “Hero” sandwiches on 50 percent a loaf of Italian bread, salads, pasta and dinners, like hen parmesan and hen cutlet Milanese and a facet of garlic parmesan bites: six contemporary-baked dough, olive oil, garlic, parmesan and marinara.

“I could sit and try to eat those bites all working day,” said just one purchaser. “Those are bomb, so fantastic. It is new and delicious.”

Yet another happy shopper, Shauna Jannotta Polefko, stated, “We had the white and (N.Y. skinny), and we seriously preferred it. The atmosphere is fantastic, and all people is friendly. You can inform it is family members-owned.”

Punturiero reported most dining places are cooking frozen foodstuff. It drives him outrageous.

“I constantly experienced a need to open up a scratch kitchen area, food stuff and pizza,” he mentioned. “How occur no 1 cooks any more? I do not use microwaves. Barely any restaurant is serving new food items any more. If the soup of the working day wasn’t built currently, it is not the soup of the day. The previous-college trade is shed on this generation.”

Rick Alcorn, a repeated client, mentioned the freshness and Chef Salvatore’s passion make it a distinctive spot.

“I like everything I have experienced there,” Alcorn claimed. “It’s so new, and nothing at all is deep-fried. Sal offers gluten-totally free. The pizza is wonderful. His salad dressing is out of this globe. I have experienced a large amount of the food stuff on the menu. It is all superior.”

Punturiero’s spouse, Alexis, utilized to function a dance university –Rostraver Dance and Gymnastics Academy – in the present creating the place Chef Salvatore is now living out his dream.

“When the pandemic strike, it retired my wife,” he mentioned. “She was in business enterprise 20 decades, and we had been heading to break up the creating so equally her organization and the shop would be less than a single roof.

“After the pandemic strike, I ongoing with my prepare. It took a lot more than a year with the products shortages and other matters.”

Punturiero had to close for a month because of the consecutive deaths of his mom and Alexis’s mother.

Although he reports his takeout business enterprise is great, and the eating space is sporadic but normally nicely crammed on Friday, he wants to carry on pushing to be better and attract additional people today to his restaurant.

“I’m nevertheless seeking to get it moving together,” Punturiero said. “We opened in October, and we’ve designed a buyer foundation. I still plan to have a soup of the day and daily specials. Some factors acquired off monitor due to the fact of shutting down for a month and some delays.

“I am here just about every day beginning at 7 a.m. I am enthusiastic about the response we have gained, and we have regulars who appear in for meatballs or fresh new food stuff they haven’t tasted prior to.

“We’re closed on the weekends so I can spend time with my household. A single of the greatest times I have experienced right here is just a couple months in the past when my son – Sal – was listed here on ‘Bring Your Kid to Perform Day.’ He was keen, and he labored all working day. That was satisfying.”

Salvatore’s Pizza and Pasta is located at 117 Scholl Lane, Rostraver Township. He features catering services and on the internet purchasing. Several hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, and the store can be achieved at 724-633-0174.