Joe Nuzzi walks into Osteria del Monte every single day with the confidence of a man who knows exactly what he’s doing. And he should—this isn’t just another restaurant acquisition. It’s a homecoming 18 years in the making.
Back in 2001, when his uncles Giovanni Minervini and Claudio Trevisan first bought this seasonal operation, young Joe was slinging plates and managing the front of house, part of a multi-generational Italian restaurant dynasty that stretched from Palm Beach to the North Carolina highlands.
The uncles – the late Claudio from Lake Como’s northern shores and Giovanni from Italy’s southern heel – had built something special here, blending the robust flavors of the north with the lighter, seafood-kissed cuisine of the south.
Then Joe left.
Corporate America called, and for nearly two decades, Osteria del Monte became a memory, a chapter closed.
But restaurants, like families, have a way of pulling you back.
When staffing challenges hit during the pandemic, Joe returned to help out. The same faces greeted him – servers who’d been there since 2005, a chef with 17 years under his belt, kitchen staff who remembered the kid who’d grown up in their midst. It was as if he’d never left.
Joe Nuzzi and Briony Le Roi
February 2023 marked the official changing of the guard. Joe didn’t just buy the restaurant; he reimagined it. New bar, overhauled kitchen, fresh artwork, updated everything. Partner Briony – Wolfgang’s veteran turned local produce market owner –became his general manager and front-of-house anchor.
But here’s where it gets interesting: Joe and Briony don’t just run a restaurant. They live it. Every winter, when Osteria closes from January through March, they hit the road in their motor coach, covering 6,000 miles of American culinary landscape.
That lemon zest king crab linguini? Born from a Scottsdale inspiration. The Chilean sea bass with Dijon crust? A souvenir from their travels to Zion and the Caverns of Sonora.
The menu reads like a family Bible – those sacred dishes like Rigatoni Osteria and veal gorgonzola that have anchored the restaurant since day one.
But Joe’s added his own verses: pear and fontina pasta purses swimming in white truffle cream, burrata-filled ravioli bathed in brown butter sage sauce. Old-school tableside service persists – dover sole filleted before your eyes, bananas foster flambéed with theatrical flair.
There’s a nearly euphoric pleasure from simply being at Osteria del Monte, pumped full of life by the colors and smells emerging from the kitchen. The restaurant’s strength lies not just in individual dishes but in the sum of its parts – the confidence that comes from knowing your roots while refusing to be trapped by them.
This is what happens when passion meets persistence, when family tradition collides with fresh vision. Joe Nuzzi didn’t just come home – he came home to conquer.
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