Hamptons restaurateurs open Italian outpost in Delray
Inspired by an island off the coast of Sicily, Osteria Salina landed in Delray Beach via the Hamptons in mid-December. Executive chef Cinzia Gaglio and husband Timothy Gaglio opened the restaurant in the vintage, home-like structure that once housed D’Angelo TrattoriaandlaterCena.
The Gaglios own Osteria Salina in East Hampton, where they count celebrities (like Bradley Cooper, Jimmy Fallon and Howard Stern) among their diners. The singer Alexa Ray Joel, daughter of Billy Joel, wrote this about the Hamptons spot in a 2013 review in Social Life Magazine:
“My father has been raving about this family-owned spot for some time now. In fact, Dad stops in several times a week for lunch or dinner. He’s pretty picky when it comes to Italian food, so there must be something to all the buzz about this Sicilian-influenced eatery.”
The chef is picky as well. Cinzia Gaglio’s dishes are rooted in her family’s cooking traditions. Having grown up in her family’s restaurants, spending summers in Italy’s Lazio region with relatives, she favors wholesome ingre- dients that don’t weigh down her dishes.
On the menu: seared octopus with gigante beans with parsley pesto; thick and hollow bu cat in in oodles tossed with sardines, currants, pine nuts, baby fennel and toasted breadcrumbs; swordfish served with a fine caponatina of eggplant, tomato, capers and raisins; short rigatoni in a Sicilian style, with roasted eggplant, tomato, fresh mozzarella, basil and dry cured olives. A variety of meats and fresh fish is offered as well.
The Gaglios are not newcomers to the industry .Inthe 1990s, they owned and operated the now-closed Trattoria Coco Lezzone in Boca Raton. The couple has owned and managed various other food and drink establishments, separately and together.
The new Delray restaurant celebrates the food of Salina Island in the Aeolian chain.
“We are committed to highquality fresh food and regional wines, authenticating this region’s simple cuisines and sincere hospitality,” Cinzia Gaglio said in a news release. “We welcome each of our guests with the warmth of dining in our home.”
According to a restaurant rep, some of those guests already know the place — they are visitors from the Hamptons.