PORT ORANGE – Italian restaurants and dining options are plentiful throughout Volusia County.

To stand out, the new Italian restaurant and contemporary pizzeria Don Giovanni in Port Orange plans to bring to the table the authentic experience of native Italian cuisine.

Owner Giovanni Spinosa got involved in catering in the most relaxed way possible. When he was 13 and playing soccer in his hometown of Torregaveta, Italy, a friend asked him to help him in his restaurant.

“One day he said to me ‘Do you want to come and work with me?’ And I said ‘of course’, ”said Spinosa.

From there he washed dishes, helped prepare meals, and then spent most of his years working in restaurants.

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Ten years ago, he tried his luck and moved to the United States to try to continue what he had started in Italy and help his family back home.

“It took me a while to figure out how to get my own place,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to do it. I have always dreamed of it, and I wanted to bring my life and my experience.

The spirit and memories of Sunday lunchtime family gatherings served as inspiration for Spinosa to create a menu that would focus but not be limited to the authentic Italian cuisine he experienced growing up.

Italian Souvenirs Menu

Open for two weeks now, Don Giovanni’s menu offers several familiar dishes, but also rarer Italian dishes, all aimed at being as authentically Italian as possible.

Bringing the Spinosa life experience is one way of trying to make the restaurant stand out. An aperitif on the menu, the Montanare (homemade fried dough with sauce topped with mozzarella and basil) is a treat that Spinosa and her friends skipped school for.

“It’s kind of like the memories I have, and I wanted to try and see how it would be done in a menu in that kind of setting,” he said.

Other familiar pasta and pizza dishes also promise as much authenticity as possible. For example, the menu makes a point of informing customers that the original Pasta alla Carbonara without cream is available.

“I wanted to make sure that everyone who comes here can get what they want,” said Spinosa. “The original Carbonara is made without cream. I give them the opportunity to choose.

Michael Birdsall and his wife went to Don Giovanni and shared an Eggplant Rollatini and Cheese Pizza, which he called “very good”. He also praised the wine and craft beer options.

“I really liked the vibe and the atmosphere,” Birdsall said. “I can’t say enough about everyone’s friendliness and the service was excellent. We will definitely be back. ”

Pizza options range from a simple cheese pizza to a sponge cake (with grilled chicken, roasted red peppers and a drizzle of pesto sauce), to the original Don Giovanni (with arugula, prosciutto and mozzarella balls). Small or large, they vary between $ 11 and $ 22.

The menu offers other familiar pasta dishes, such as Fettuccine Alfredo or Bolognese, but also unusual dishes such as Spaghetti alla Pescatora (clams, mussels and squid with “fra diavolo” sauce) and Penne alla Norma (eggplant and sauce. Red). Prices vary between $ 15 and $ 21.

“We cook everything with patience”

Spinosa said he wanted to include even more traditional Italian dishes on the menu, but preparing food from scratch and in an authentic way takes some time and effort, and he focuses on that above anything else.

“We cook everything with patience,” he said. “We’re not doing it just to throw a piece of chicken with pasta. Everything we do, we want to make sure we eat it first. This is what I was thinking while preparing the menu.

He spent seven years working at a friend’s restaurant in New Smyrna Beach, which allowed Spinosa to continue the kind of work he had started doing in Italy while learning more about the restaurant business. .

Spinosa said the process of renting the space for the restaurant was long and uncertain for some time. But the last two weeks have been going well with friends and new local customers coming to get to know her new place.

“The second was already much better than the first week,” he said. “So we get up, it looks like. This is what makes me more motivated, to see that I really got the result I worked for.

After starting with the delivery service and adjusting the menu this week, Spinosa said he now focused on what he set out to do in the best possible way.

Plans to offer Neapolitan-style pizzas (which are originally made in pizza ovens), for example, would require structural and time-consuming changes that hamper Spinosa’s desire to ensure customers live the life. true experience of Don Giovanni.

“This is what I wanted since I moved here,” he said. “Share with people a piece of my life story through my food.”

IF YOU ARE GOING TO

WHAT: Contemporary Italian Don Giovanni and Pizzeria

O: 1633, chemin Taylor Suite 5, Port-Orange

OPENING HOURS: Monday to Thursday from 11 am to 9:30 pm; Fridays and Saturdays from 11 am to 11 pm; and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

INFORMATION: www.dongiovanniportorange.com, or 386-492-6945