Connecticut Magazine
September 2008

Country Capitalist
May 2008

In Italy, an Osteria is a relaxed, informal place to eat, focusing on fresh local foods, and wines, prepared by someone you know in the kitchen. This isthe nature of Applausi in Old Greenwich, owned and run by the multi-generational Marchetti Tarantino family. Hailing from Puglia in southern Italy, they offer housemade fare typical of their sun-washed region. Along with garden bounty ingredients and wonderful execution, comes the tradional warm welcome and attentive service. "Customers are not just our friends," says Frank Marchetti, "they are our family."

All of the pastas are hand made first thing each morning by Maria, Frank's mother, and are superb. Try her cavatelli with sausage, and mushrooms; gnocchi with lobster, tomatoes and zucchini; or tordelli - meat ravioli - with veal and root vegetable ragu. Seasonal starters like butternut squash soup or pumpkin ravioli feature local produce, while entrees such as Branzino )sea bass) baked in a crust of salt and filleted tableside, or filet mignon in a brandy cream sauce with peppercorns, comes from excellent purveyors.

All of their preparations are made with 100% imported, extra virgin olive oil, and the cruets of oil on the table come directly from the family farm in Umbria.

For dessert there's ethereal Tiramisu, panna cotta, or rich dark chocolate mouse cake.

Applausi Osteria in Old Greenwich
Fran Sikorski - December 21, 2007

European artwork, eclectic lighting and a large bay window overlooking Old Greenwich center set the stage for the outstanding food and service offered at Applausi Osteria, opened in 1994 by the Marchetti-Tarantino family. What began in 1983 as small family business known as Maria’s Trattoria in Norwalk (since sold) has grown into three very successful restaurants. In addition to Applausi Osteria, the Marchetti-Tarantino family opened Columbus Park Trattoria in Stamford in 1985, and Tarantino Restaurant in Westport in 1994. Today Frank, Michael, and Antonio, the three oldest sons of Tony and Maria Tarantino Marchetti, have taken over the business from their uncle and founder Michael Tarantino, with their parents still involved with the restaurants. Tony is running the business end, and Maria is making her famous pastas that are served at all three restaurants. From the beginning, all ingredients have been simple and fresh.

Executive chef at Applausi Osteria is Michael Marchetti, assisted by chef Henry Lopez. They prepared a special prix fixe dinner paired with exquisite wines that I enjoyed with friends during our visit. We began with a cream of butternut squash soup served with ginger and crostini, followed by eggplant stuffed with vegetables and served with sauteed shrimp. Next was Maria Marchetti’s butternut squash-filled ravioli sautéed with aromatic butter and shaved black truffle, and a serving of her cavatellis tossed with seafood and served with cherry tomatoes and white wine sauce. We were impressed with two entrees, whole Mediterranean sea bass, baked in aromatic sea salt and filleted tableside, and filet mignon wrapped in puff pastry with a porcini mushroom sauce.

A sampling of desserts, unbelievably tempting, were panna cotta al caffe, coffee flavored cream with a splash of kahlua; torta de ricotta, traditional Italian ricotta cheesecake; and frutti di bosco, a delicate tart filled with pastry cream and covered with mixed berries and powdered sugar.

Other signature handmade pastas are carpaccio con ruchetta e olio di tartufo, thinly sliced raw beef with champignon mushrooms and arugula finished with truffle oil; medaglioni di suino ala scarpariello, pork tenderloin medallions sautéed with garlic and hot cherry peppers in a balsamic vinegar reduction; and la grigliata di crostacei, grilled jumbo Maya shrimp kabob and vegetables served with imported extra virgin olive oil and fresh squeezed lemon.

All three restaurants serve and use personally imported 24-month aged Parmigiano, black summer truffles from Umbria, and also exclusively import Fabbi Balsamico Tradizionale from Modena. The Marchettis also import other products from Italy that are available online and at all three restaurants, such as carpaccio or grated black summer truffle in extra virgin olive oil, black or white truffle oil and Fabbi Aceto Balsamico vinegar.

For Old World charm and excellent food, Applausi Osteria is a perfect place for dining; be prepared for pleasant surprises.

It's a 24/7 life, but you have to love it
Fairfield County Catholic - January 2004

Perpetual Motion
Michael J. Marchetti.watching him in action at the family's flagship restaurant, Columbus Park Trattoria.there can be no doubt who is Master and Commander of this universe. .Greeting customers by name; checking the tables; recommending dishes or the perfect wine. On busy nights, he changes into whites and helps in the kitchen. He can cook every item.even the wild boar.
Family Business
His manner is respectful, charming, a smile ever present - the perfect host, someone who makes you feel at home. "My mother, Maria, always loved cooking.with a cousin, she opened a small restaurant in Norwalk , Maria's Trattoria to raise money to help with my tuition. My brother Frank and I worked on weekends and over the summers." There the brothers learned the business - busing tables, cooking, tending bar. Today, three of the six Marchetti children have followed their parents into the business. Frank is the financial officer of the company, and Antonio is manager of Osteria Applausi in Old Greenwich. Today the Marchetti's run one of the largest family-owned and operated restaurant groups in Fairfield County . More than a dozen other restaurants have been started by former, well trained employees. A typical day begins at 8:30 a.m., runs through lunch, and often lasting until midnight - six days a week.
Never On Sunday
"We are always closed on Sundays, out of respect for our faith, and the family day," Marchetti says. "But we reserved it for parties - Communions, Baptisms, birthdays. Soon people asked us to do parties at their homes, and the catering side expanded, he recalls. Wedding receptions for 200 are now no problem.
Heritage of Faith
Marchetti says he relies on his Catholic faith and its mission of service to others in his daily life. "my parents raised us with a great love for our faith, with fundamental teachings of the Church, he says. Concern for others is paramount, he says. "We try to teach our employees the same values. A lot of them are Catholic. On holy days we take turns, so everyone can get to Mass," Marchetti says. I would say that 70 percent of our business is repeat customers.some of our customers have been coming for 20 years. .if I don't see them, I'll call them up at home and check on them," he continues. "I have customers who'll call us, to say they're not coming in for their regular table. It's like a great big family." The best part of the job, Marchetti says, is making people feel good. "That's the satisfaction, walking through the restaurant on a busy, busy night, with people saying, 'Thank you, we had a great time, the food was delicious, the service good, the atmosphere wonderful, etc.' You can be proud in a job well done."

Restaurant family dumps the pizza and starts making some real dough
by Tom Connors

NORWALK - When Maria Marchetti and her growing family took over Pizza Time in Norwalk in 1983, she had the will and spirit to make it in the restaurant business and the belief that food and family go hand in hand. What the Marchettis didn't have was the know-how to make a pizza. "Dad put his fist through the pizza when he was trying to make it," recalls Frank Marchetti, the 32-year old managing partner of Marchetti Management Service, LLC, which now includes real estate, catering, and importing, along with four restaurants with loyal customer followings.

The Marchettis, along with Maria's brother, Michael Tarantino, didn't even have a regular stove or a fryer in their new "restaurant." When Maria received her first order for fried calamari and pasta, she ran out and bought a table-top fryer and two electric burners at Caldor's.

"Those were the days when pizzerias weren't restaurants," said Michael Marchetti, Frank's older brother and head of the operations side of the growing Marchetti empire. Sitting in the popular and well respected Columbus Park Trattoria in downtown Stamford, with its stylish interior, gorgeous bar and world -class food, it is hard to imagine that the Marchettis ever struggled in the restaurant business. But it does not take long to understand how they turned around their early missteps to eventually open Maria's Trattoria in early 1984 , followed by Apulia in South Norwalk in 1985, (now closed), Columbus Park in 1987, and both Osteria Applausi in Greenwich and Osteria Tarantino's in Westport in 1994.

Take a strong sense of family and hard work and add authentic Italian cooking from a family that came to this country from Gravina in Puglia, Italy in the 1960's. By offering homemade pasta, made to-order dishes with fresh imported ingredients, and ditching the pizza, the Marchettis quickly established a word-of mouth reputation. "The wait at Maria's could get to three hours and we didn't even have a bar," Frank Said. "People would go to the place next door and wait." Along with the food, though, was that intangible ingredient that separates great restaurants from the pretenders. These are "everyone knows your name" places where customers know other customers and are considered part of the family

"When people eat (at our restaurants), they are eating at our home," Frank said. Nearly 30 members of the Marchetti/Tarantino clan have worked at the family's restaurants in the past two decades, Michael said, and there is at least one family member at the restaurants at most any time of the day. Whether by chance or design, this is a partnership in its truest sense. Everyone has their role and everyone is willing to pitch in wherever help is needed. Frank with his investment banking background handles financial matters. Michael, who was known to work until midnight, sleep a few hours, and hop in a van to go to Fulton Fish Market in New York to get the fresh catch, handles operations and the company's catering business. Antonio, 27, is the manager at Applausi in Greenwich

John Paul, Rosa and Alessandro are probably not far behind their older brothers. "We all grew up with the sights and the sounds of the restaurant business," Michael said, "it's in our blood." This is a family that is so close and works so hard during the week that they don't open their restaurants on Sundays in order to spend time together. Although the second generation of Marchettis have helped modernize and grow their operations - which now includes their own truffle operation in Umbria, Italy - they are quick to credit those who came before them.

Maria is the creative, artistic force. Tony, a chemical engineer by trade who worked three jobs at one point to support the family, was the numbers cruncher and amiable front man. Michael Tarantino had the expertise in restaurants and was a "forward thinker." "We're standing on the shoulders of giants," Frank said.

In honor of their 20 years in business the family is holding an invitation-only traveling dinner on Tuesday night where some of their biggest fans will have the opportunity to sample fare at all four of the restaurants.

A Cozy Little Italian Restaurant
Zagat Survey

A cozy little Italian situated in the hamlet of Old Greenwich", this "straightforward" storefront earns applause for "freshly made pasta" and "fabulous red snapper" ; wallet-watchers shrug that "it's too expensive for what it is, but I guess that goes with the neighborhood