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Hernando Today

Fine Italian Dining Is Here

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By TONY HOLT

Hernando Today

Published: November 10, 2008

SPRING HILL - Ruth Brellenthin knows her Italian.

She is from Long Island, N.Y., where Brooklyn-born Italian Americans moved en masse during the 1960s and 1970s.

Just like they did while in New York, they opened pizzerias and restaurants. They served thin-crust pizza, succulent pasta and rich sauces. Long Island was an extension of the five-boroughs - not just in terms of infrastructure, but culture.

Arguably, it had some of the best Italian food anywhere. If you hear Brellenthin tell it, Spring Hill has it, too.

She regularly eats at Mario's Pizza and Restaurant. It reminds her of home.

"The food here is as good as any Italian restaurant in New York City," she said. "The vodka sauce is the best. It's real vodka sauce."

The owner is a great practitioner of Italian fine dining and pizza making. Customers can get the best of both at Mario's.

After 13 months, he is still trying to get more locals to notice him.

"I get people who come in here and say, 'I shop at Target and I never saw this place,'" said owner Mario Fontana. "A lot of people don't know about us."

A lot of people know about Mario's Pizza in Brooklyn. Fontana owns and manages a restaurant there. He often travels to New York during the year to make sure it is running properly.

His fiancee and brother-in-law also are in the Italian dining business. It is all he knows. His food is proof of that.

Last week, he prepared samples of his cheese pizza, bean and bacon soup, chicken Mario and penne alla vodka. There were plenty of oohs and ahs from the table of tasters.

The food sells itself. The high number of regulars at Mario's is an indicator.

"People talk to their friends and family and they tell them to come here," Fontana said. "We do get a lot of compliments. There are just not enough people who know us."

Mario's Pizza opened Sept. 17, 2007. By that time, the economy had begun its long, suffering slump, but Fontana was confident enough to open a new restaurant. He moved to Florida and liked the location. He also wanted to remain ensconced in the industry he knows and loves.

He insisted on opening a new Mario's Pizza. In spite of the economy getting worse, he has survived.

"I don't want to brag about it," he said. "I want people to judge for themselves."

By serving some of the area's most famous pizza, he is helping his cause.

Some restaurant owners are nervous about entering the cut-throat industry of pizza. Some think it is overdone. Others think Florida's sentiment-heavy water makes it impossible to make pizza as good as up north.

Fontana shook his head at those excuses. He bought a water softener. He knows a lot of New Yorkers live in Spring Hill. They crave the pies they used to enjoy from home. He knew he could give them what they wanted.

"Pizza is everywhere in the world," he said. "People love pizza."

His restaurant is small in scale. There are roughly a dozen tables, most of which seat two or four people.

During the day, it resembles a pizzeria. It is a casual atmosphere with oldies music playing on the radio.

At night, the lights dim and it feels more like a fine-dining restaurant. Fontana and his manager, Gia Arcarola, are hoping to increase their evening business.

They serve pasta dishes, casseroles, veal, seafood and various chicken entrees.

Everything is made from scratch, everything from the rice bowls to the tiramisu.

If Fontana and Arcarola succeed in expanding their customer base, they promise not to lose that hometown-restaurant flavor. They want to preserve that for as long as they can. They like having regular customers ask for custom-made dinners not found on the menu.

"So much is made to order," Arcarola said. "We create a lot of meals, too."

Biz at a glance:

Name of biz - Mario's Pizza and Restaurant

Owner - Mario Fontana
What it serves - Pizza and Italian fine dining

Where it is - Lake in the Woods Plaza, 4369 Commercial Way, Spring Hill
Hours of operation - 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 2 to 9 p.m. Sunday

Get in touch - 352-596-1500

Reporter Tony Holt can be reached at 352-544-5283 or wholt@hernandotoday.com.

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