Cary Rosner said most Italian restaurants do not offer real Italian cuisine.
“When you go out to a restaurant, you’re not being served Italian food, you’re being served an Americanized version of Italian food,” Rosner said. “Not that there’s anything wrong with it, but I believe it has veered so far right that it’s time to bring simplicity back to Italian cuisine.”
Rosner said he hopes to bring diners that authentic experience with the opening of Katerina Ristorante on March 25 at 20 South Station Plaza in the Village of Great Neck Plaza.
To give the authentic Italian feel, the restaurant will import some of its products once a week to John F. Kennedy International Airport from Italy, said Rosner, who the restaurant’s managing partner.
“The end result is it’s a better product because it’s dealt from its origin,” he said. “That’s what is really most important.”
Rosner also said the Italian trading companies that import food products are eager to provide for American customers knowing their adoration for Italian food.
“The Italian market understands that Americans have a love affair with Italian cuisine,” he said. “They have been really aggressive to ensure that their premium products have the ability at the table.”
While he and Tony Cerra, Katerina Ristorante’s director of operations, heard about the struggles of Great Neck restaurants and businesses, Rosner said, they believe the business would succeed because of its close proximity to the Long Island Rail Road station and the kind of food it will offer.
“People are flocking out of the area for whatever the reason,” he said. “We think the area is really under-served and according to what people are telling us, they’re really hungry for something.”
Cerra owned and operated various Manhattan restaurants since 1991.
Rosner said in the restaurant business, Cerra’s “passion is tremendous.”
“He truly does care about the diner that walks into his store and he cares more about the product that goes on to the plate,” he said. “A lot of people will say what they’re doing and not do it, but he will do it.”
Katerina Ristorante will be offering a wine program in which patrons can select one bottle of wine from a list of 29 bottles for $29.
Rosner said he and Cerra tasted over 1,000 bottles of wine to slim the list down to 29.
“We believe that people are very, very conscious of what they’re spending,” he said. “If we have the ability to over-deliver at the price point, it does well for everybody.”
Rosner also said that instead of offering a glass of wine to patrons, Katerina Ristorante would offer glass-and-a-half portions.
“We know that most people are not sold on getting that second glass because they might be going into the car or don’t want to spend the money,” he said. “It’s just the right amount.”
Katerina Ristorante has a website at katerinany.com, where people can make reservations, inquire about holding an event or private party at the restaurant or check out the restaurant’s lunch and dinner menu.
The restaurant will also be maintaining and mobile text message list, which allows people who text “Katerina” to 41411 will receive news and offers.
