New Italian restaurant opening in Bradenton. ‘No one makes Marsala like him.’
Partners Amanda Ventura and Christopher Doe recently opened Scuderia Italian Cuisine at 4805 Cortez Road W., next door to the Regal Oakmont cinema.
Ask chef Doe about his favorite dishes, and he responds, “I love them all.”
But in his heart of hearts it might be the chicken Marsala: two chicken breasts with sauteed mushrooms, white onions and roasted garlic in Marsala wine sauce served over a bed of pasta.
“No one makes Marsala like him,” Ventura said.
The partners opened Scuderia Italian Cuisine in March after about three months of intense work getting the space, which has been home to several restaurants over the years, ready for diners.
“We did everything ourselves,” Ventura said, including sanding and refinishing each of the tables.
“The sanding took about seven hours for each table,” she said.
The hard work was worth it, producing a bright, Italian farmhouse look, she said.
In case you’re wondering, the name Scuderia was taken from auto racing, and refers to the teamwork between the partners and their staff.
“We make a great team,” Ventura said.
Menu offerings include pizzas, pasta entrees, chicken dishes, seafood, sandwiches (hot or cold) and a variety of appetizers and salads.
Regular pizzas — think Italian, veggie, ham and cheese, five-cheese, white and plain — are priced at $9 for small, $15 for medium and $20 for large.
Specialty pizzas, including margherita, taco pie, cheeseburger pie, buffalo chicken, meat lovers, Philly cheese steak, Greek and more, are priced from $12 for a small to $18 for a medium and $25 for a large.
Among the appetizers are calamari, spinach and artichoke dip and more.
Scuderia’s pasta menu is extensive, including eggplant Parmesan, cheese ravioli (served with homemade meatballs or Italian sausage), pasta primavera, and lasagna, with prices ranging from $16 to $26.
Asked to name a few popular selections from the pasta menu, Ventura suggests sausage diavolo, sausage and broccoli rabe and penne a la vodka.
The chicken menu is also large, ranging from chicken Parmesan to chicken Alfredo and pesto chicken.
Seafood offerings include linguini and clams, mussels, shrimp, scallops, seafood Alfredo and a Seafood Lovers platter. Seafood prices start at $18.
The restaurant offers dining in, take out, online ordering and catering.
Scuderia Italian Cuisine is open 3-10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday through Sunday.
For more information, call 941-932-6830 or visit Scuderia Italian Cuisine’s Facebook page.
