Steve Martorano to open spot at Rivers Casino
Yo, cuz! A new Italian restaurant is coming to the Rivers Casino later this year.
Steve Martorano, the brawny bluecollar celebrity chef with bulldog jowls and a raspy voice from South Florida by way of South Philly, will open Martorano’s Prime — An Italian American Steak House at the North Shore gaming attraction in November. It will take the place of the existing Andrew’s Steak & Seafood.
“Pittsburgh is made from hardworking, blue- collar people,” Mr. Martorano said in a phone interview from California. The man who dubs himself the “Neighborhood Cook” and whose catchphrase is “Yo, cuz!” was traveling after an appearance on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” last week. “It’s a city of underdogs and people who are always fighting for what they want and what they need,” he said about the Steel City. “That’s how I started my business out of a basement.”
Mr. Martorano started selling sandwiches as a teenager out of his parent’s basement in a hardscrabble section of Philadelphia. He moved to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in the early 1990s and opened the original Cafe Martorano in 1993, which has since become a South Florida institution. He’s since opened
locations at Harrah’s Atlantic City Casino and in Paris Las Vegas Casino and is a regular on TV talk shows.
Now in his early 60s, Mr. Martorano is still adamant in referring to himself as the “Neighborhood Cook” and not a chef.
“I never went to a culinary school. I never worked for another restaurant. I learned from my mother and father and grandmother, and I fell so many times on my face, but people liked the food. I don’t wear the white coat; I wear a white T- shirt. Whatever restaurant I’m at, I’m not on the floor kissing babies. I’m in the kitchen. People can come and get a picture taken with me, but they have to come to the kitchen to do it.”
At Martorano’s Prime — An Italian American Steak House at Rivers in Pittsburgh, diners can expect the best of Mr. Martorano’s Italian cooking with the best of an American steakhouse — that turns into a full- on nightclub after dinner service ends.
“I love steakhouses, but basically all the appetizers are seafood and the sides are mashed potatoes. And if there’s a pasta, it’s mac and cheese,” Mr. Martorano said. “When I go out to eat, I would love to have a meatball and pasta course. Four or five great pasta dishes to go with three or four prime steaks, and a signature veal chop.”
He also said that linguine and clams — his favorite dish to make — will be on the menu, and that desserts will be by Lilly Cakes, his wife Marsha’s dessert line.
Mr. Martorano said that he had previously worked with Rivers’ vice president of food and beverage Andrea Kleinrock and Rivers executive chef Richard Marmion back in Las Vegas and that this project is borne from discussions they had.
“When they said, ‘ Steve, we have a steakhouse here,’ I said, ‘ We have an idea for a Martorano’s Prime ItalianAmerican Steak House.’
“I really didn’t want to do another big Martorano’s like in Las Vegas or Atlantic City, another 6,000- squarefoot place,” he said. “It’s hard to maintain the quality there. We started nearly 30 years ago, in a strip mall next to a Walgreen’s, with 14 tables. People come to me every week, and they want that, but they want it on the grandest scale, and you have to give up that intimacy.”
He said the planned 200seat restaurant and nightclub will aim to strike a balance of those elements.
“My biggest concern is that Martorano’s keeps its high quality across the board. People appreciate that quality, and I want them to know that even though we’re growing, we really still care about our food brand. We want you to join our family or, rather, let us join your family.”