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Update: Slice of Bay Shore is opening in early 2018.
Original post: Giovanni Digirolamo of Smithtown has been cooking up pizza in the Bay Shore area for a long time.
Now that he’s opening his own Italian restaurant, he finds himself interviewing prospective employees he used to watch getting pushed in strollers.
“He was always great with the kids,” says his wife, Alexis Digirolamo. “He would tell the kids, ‘Hey you’re 5 years old; you’re too big to be cutting your pizza! You gotta fold it like this.”
Giovanni “John” Digirolamo cooked — on and off — for about 20 years at Mamma Santina Pizza in Brightwaters. He’s now getting set to open Slice of Bay Shore at the old Friendly’s at 298 West Main Street in Bay Shore.
He and his wife and family had been looking to open elsewhere in Suffolk County — and came close in Melville — but a business owner on Main Street in Bay Shore insisted the old Friendly’s location was one he couldn’t pass up.
“Then I drove by and said this really is a great spot,” he said.
Digirolamo and his family closed on the property in April 2016. Construction is well under way and the hope is to open in late summer.
For many in the neighborhood, it’s like an old friend just moved back home.
(Or, more accurately, decided not to leave; it wasn’t long ago that Digirolamo was in Brightwwaters.)
“We’ll go to interview a kid and they’re like, ‘John, what’s up! We’re so excited,’” she said. “Just from people’s reactions to him, I’m like, ‘I love this town. Everyone’s so sweet. Everyone’s rooting for him.'”
“And it’s nice to see his vision coming to play,” she added.
The idea is for a spacious eat-in pizzeria at the front of the freestanding building, and a dining room in the back. A huge kitchen will run along the eastern side.
Both eating areas will have a modern, clean vibe, but will feel distinctly different.
“The front will be a more casual pizzeria, and then the dining room will be a bit more upscale,” Alexis said. “It’s hard to visualize it now as they’re working on it, but I do feel it will be two different worlds, even down to the lighting.”
The gist of the menu items will be just as you imagine: Italian staples. But they will have a more modern presentation at Slice of Bay Shore, with a smaller menu than you find at other Long Island pizzeria/restaurants. Without giving away too much, Giovanni also plans to add a twist to some old favorites.
There will also be some lighter fare for those not looking to load up.
More than anything else, the Digirolamos say running a successful Italian restaurant is more about a feeling of friendliness and warmth when customers walk in the door.
“People like it when you know their name, know their family,” Giovanni said. “It’s the atmosphere. And listening to each other’ stories.”
“A lot of it is just being a good person and serving good food,” Alexis said.
