‘Traditional Italian’ with a modern twist. Look inside new Parrish restaurant
At Parrish’s new Restaurant iDalia, authentic Italian flavors are at the heart of the menu.
“We wanted to be a little bit more traditional,” co-owner Jon Allen said.
At the same time, classic dishes are served with a modern and playful twist.
“We kind of did a little play on some of the things we have,” Allen said. “Like a carbonara fritto, which encompasses a carbonara and it’s a fried appetizer as well. We have a wood fire pizza oven here that does more Neo-Neopolitan.”
Allen said traditional Neopolitan pizzas have softer texture and higher “flop” — the bend in a slice when held by the crust.
A Neo-Neopolitan bake results in a crispier, crunchier pie.
“Neo-Neopolitan has a little bit of a lower temp, so it cooks a little longer and still holds up nice,” he said. “Same type of ingredients … it’s much easier to digest. It’s more traditional towards Italian food as opposed to American-style pizza.”
Featuring an open concept with seating inside and outside, Restaurant iDalia opened in March at 8743 Fort Hamer Road in Parrish’s Marketwalk at North River Ranch plaza.
Fan favorite items at Restaurant iDalia
In addition to wood-fired pizzas, some popular and signature items on Restaurant iDalia’s menu include Wagyu meatballs, wood-fired lasagna and Uncle Joe’s Lemon Chicken Scarpiello.
Most menu items are between $15 and $30.
The lasagna is made with traditional techniques, Allen said, using a bechamel and bolognese sauce. The chicken scarpiello is made with bone-in chicken thighs that are roasted with long hot peppers and sweet cherry peppers.
“Our tomato sauce is a very traditional tomato sauce, there’s no extra vegetables or anything inside of it,” Allen said. “It’s not high in sugar.”
Cocktails and more
Restaurant iDalia also has a bar featuring various spritzers, traditional cocktails like the Negroni, martinis and wines.
“We make our own Limoncello in-house,” Allen said.
After a meal, diners are also treated to a complimentary pistachio liqueur.
“We have a friend in Sicily who makes (it) … and we’ve got a lot of good response about that,” Allen said.
Unique dessert
The dessert menu features tiramisu, Sicilian cannolis and gelato special-ordered from Vero Coffee & Gelato outside of Chicago.
For a unique Italian experience, diners can order their gelato inside brioche.
“That’s more traditional to Sicily, where you get it stuffed inside the brioche bread,” Allen said. “They’ll put pistachio cream or Nutella or something on top and you get like an ice cream sandwich.”
Decor and path to Parrish
Inside Restaurant iDalia diners are greeted with a bright, airy and minimal space. Gina Cappelluti, an interior designer, and her niece helped design the decor in the restaurant.
“They did a fantastic job just kind of curating a bunch of pictures and layouts and plants and lighting,” Allen said.
Allen said he’s worked in restaurants his whole life, eventually getting into pizzerias in the Jupiter and Palm Beach Gardens area of Florida.
“The guys who own the Michaelangelo’s group over here, we were friends,” Allen said.
So when he moved to Lakewood Ranch in 2019, he entered a partnership with them.
Allen co-owns Restaurant iDalia with Joe Sciulara, of the Michaelangelo’s group, and Nick Amanatidis, who opened Mexican eatery Fuego with Sciulara in 2023.
“So together we have a bunch of restaurants collectively, but kind of independent ownerships between all of us,” Allen said. “So this is our first (the) three of us together.”
What’s in a name?
Despite the coincidence, the restaurant’s name has nothing to do with Hurricane Idalia, which caused catastrophic damage to Florida’s Big Bend region and impacted Manatee County with heavy flooding in 2023.
Instead, the name reflects a phonetic way of pronouncing Italia by native Italians, Allen said.
What are the restaurant’s hours?
Restaurant iDalia, which seats about 140, is open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
For more information, visit iDaliaEats.com.
