Bringing Italian to the table: Current, former restaurateurs join forces in catering effort

By Alex Bridges -- Daily Staff Writer

BERRYVILLE -- Jose and Julio Ramirez named their restaurant Focaccia Italian Grill after a type of Italian bread.

The owners of Focaccia Italian Grill, in Berryville, are brothers Jose, left, and Julio Ramirez. They are holding, from left, Penne Sorrentina, Salmon Pompei, Grilled Rack of Lamb and Spinach and Ricotta Cheese Raviolli. Alan Lehman/Daily Cindy Shimp manages the catering for Focaccia in Berryville. Alan Lehman/Daily Smoked salmon and fresh fennel. Alan Lehman/Daily Focaccia's sausage rigattoni. Alan Lehman/Daily

The Salvadoran brothers held a grand opening for Focaccia in Berryville in April. They took over the former Athens Restaurant in November and eventually changed the menu to Italian fare with some of the Greek items from the previous establishment.

Customers have responded favorably to the restaurant's new direction, said Julio Ramirez.

The brothers mixed some familiar Italian dishes -- appetizers like fried calamari and entrees such as four-cheese ravioli -- with items like penne sorentina. Like many restaurants, Focaccia offers lunch and dinner menus as well as chefs' specials.

"We want to give our customers a little bit of everything," Julio Ramirez said.

Most of what the brothers offer they make from scratch -- including their focaccia and much of the pasta.

While the restaurant has received some demand for delivery, the brothers decided to wait on offering that service. But fans of Italian cuisine can have the restaurant supply the food at their next wedding, conference or other event.

The Ramirezes teamed up with the former owner of the Boyce Restuarant, Cindy Shimp, about a month ago to expand into catering. Shimp worked in the catering business for some time, but the brothers had not done as much in that area.

"It had been on their minds," Shimp said. "Getting into something but not owning another restaurant had been on my mind, and I think it's serendipity."

"We were lucky to find her," Julio Ramirez said.

Shimp credits her daughter, Allison, for helping inspire the partnership. Her daughter, home from Bentley College near Boston, went to work as a waitress for Focaccia. After hearing the owners talk of wanting to start catering, Allison Shimp suggested they talk to her mother.

"They were sharing their experiences of a restaurant which, you know, can be very funny," Cindy Shimp added. "And she talked about catering jobs and how that was always her least favorite to work with me on catering jobs, and they said 'Oh, we would love to have someone help us with our catering, because we want to do it but were so kind of focused on [the restuarant].'"

"For me it's a great fit because I've always loved to do it, and I did most of the catering myself," Shimp said. "But now I'll have help."

Catering required her to be "extremely organized" but it helped to have a business background, she said. Those skills, Shimp said, now will come into play as she coordinates and runs catering operations for Focaccia. She also grew up in a business background and had a great-grandfather who opened a grocery store on Long Island, N.Y., in the early 1900s.

"I'm really conscious of cost ... you get so involved in a restaurant of just doing it, and it can be such a rush that you don't even think about 'Am I making money or not?'" Shimp said. "And you need to know that before you do the catering job."

"So that'll be part of it, too. It'll be working with the clients and then also working with them in terms of coming up with the product costs and also the manpower costs," she added, noting that the restaurant won't add more people to do the catering but likely will just have the current staff work more.

Helping Focaccia cater brings her back to what she enjoys.

After selling Boyce Restaurant and continuing to cater for a short time, Shimp wanted to try other jobs, especially with her daughter off at college.

"They were OK, but my heart wasn't in it the way it's in food so when this came up, it's the most excited I've been since I sold the restaurant about doing something now in the next phase of my life," Shimp said.

But she wouldn't team up and help cater just any restaurant.

"If I weren't pleased with their food, I wouldn't do it," Shimp said, noting that she grew up in an Italian family in New York City.

The catering menu isn't limited to the repertoire served at Focaccia. And the Ramirez brothers can employ their cooking background to fill customer needs, she said.

"Anything they serve in the restaurant they'll cater, and in addition to that, if people want something that's not served in the restaurant, we can cater that, too," Shimp said.

Julio Ramirez concurred.

But the brothers also know where to keep their focus, Shimp said.

"Julio and Jose are well aware that regular customers are their bread and butter," she said.

* Contact Alex Bridges at abridges@nvdaily.com