This man didn’t let a corporate career derail him from his wine dream.
Vincenzo Pezzaniti, an IT manager for a locally headquartered company, opened Cellar 59 Wine Bar & Wine Shop in an old wood farmhouse on state Route 59 in Stow a little more than a year ago.
The 34-year-old draws inspiration in large part from his great-great-grandfather and grandfather, who were home winemakers.
“We made wine as a family,” Pezzaniti said. “I wanted to get involved in the wine business somehow and then we came up with this idea” of a wine bar and retail shop.
This month, he and his wife and business partner, Carrie, 32, are celebrating Cellar 59’s inclusion on Wine Spectator magazine’s 2014 Restaurant Wine List Awards. The awards recognize wine lists at establishments in all 50 states and more than 80 countries and territories.
Customers at Cellar 59, 3984 Kent Road (state Route 59), can choose from about 450 labels of wine from a host of regions. The bottles — priced from $8 or $9 to more than $150 — are neatly displayed on shelves in the various rooms of the former residence.
The Pezzanitis, who live in Akron, invested heavily in renovations to the farmhouse, making major repairs to the big wrap-around porch, installing a kitchen and sprucing up the wood-laden interior. The place was previously a business offering holistic healing services.
Patrons wanting to enjoy wine at Cellar 59 can buy it by the glass ($7-$11) or the bottle. A $10 corkage fee is applied to bottles consumed on premises. Carrie Pezzaniti points out that’s $10 on top of retail prices, meaning the price is lower than that at many restaurants.
You won’t find mass-market labels such as Beringer or Yellow Tail among the choices at Cellar 59.
“We try to actually focus on small, unique vineyards and winemakers that people haven’t heard of but they produce some of the best wines in the world,” Vincenzo Pezzaniti said. For the most part, he said, “you won’t find these at the big chains, you’ll find them at small shops like ours.”
Cellar 59 is among roughly 50 Ohio places to make the Wine Spectator list, and among a total of 2,791 wine purveyors earning the entry-level Award of Excellence. This citation goes to those offering “an interesting and diverse selection of wines” that mesh with the establishment’s food “in price and style.”
Other Akron-area wine bars and restaurants making the list are Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar at 4000 Medina Road (state Route 18) in Copley Township; Galaxy Restaurant at 201 Park Centre Drive in Wadsworth, and 750 ml at 2287 W. Market St. in West Akron (this spot gets its name from the measurement of a standard bottle of wine.)
All received the entry-level award. The other levels are Best of Award of Excellence and the Grand Award, both given to places that generally offer larger selections.
Cellar 59’s Vincenzo Pezzaniti says he’ll “never say never” when it comes to seeking the higher awards, but for now, he’s thrilled with entry-level status. Establishments apply to be on the Wine Spectator List, and must meet various guidelines.
While wine is the focus at Cellar 59, it does offer a selection of craft beers and spirits.
And, of course, the wine bar/shop also offers “small plates,” featuring seasonal fruit, artisan cheeses, cured meats, marinated olives and cakes made by Wild-Flour Cakes by Heather, of Stow. More food offerings are on the way, including pizza and crab cakes.
Vincenzo Pezzaniti has no plans to hang up his corporate career, while Carrie Pezzaniti, a certified public accountant, is focusing on Cellar 59 with its roughly 10 full- and part-time employees, and motherhood. The couple, who live in West Akron, have two young children, one of whom was born a week after the grand opening.
“How she [Carrie] does it, the juggling,” Vincenzo Pezzaniti said, “is inspiring, to be honest.”
Taste of Akron
“We’re prepared,” says Carli Molinelli, a city of Akron community events specialist who is coordinator for this year’s Taste of Akron.
She’s referring to the hordes of folks expected to descend Thursday on the city’s Hardesty Park for the ninth annual Taste of Akron food and wine fest. The event, which will run from 5 to 10 p.m., precedes the Akron Arts Expo weekend, also at the park off West Market Street in the Wallhaven area of West Akron.
Last year, many attendees waited in long lines for the tickets to buy food from area restaurants and purveyors, as organizers were caught off guard by the large crowd.
City officials estimate at least 4,000 people showed up, and Molinelli said she even had to make a run during the event to the nearby Pat Catan’s to purchase extra rolls of paper tickets.
This year, she said, there will be more folks working at the two ticket stations, each station will have credit card machines, and workers will have more clearly defined tasks.
Ticket sales begin at 5 p.m. and beverages will be available at that time. Food will be served starting at 6. Tickets are $2 each, and samples of food cost one, two or three tickets.
Molinelli said last year’s nice weather and the food trucks, which were making their first appearance at the event, were big reasons for the crowd. Food trucks will roll in again this year, joining a host of area eateries, for a total of 31 vendors. That’s the most the event has ever had.
“After last year … we needed to bring up our number [of vendors] and give patrons more variety,” Molinelli said.
New to the event are popular Cuyahoga Falls restaurant Moe’s and The Game Grill + Bar of Canal Park stadium in Akron’s downtown; food trucks Southern Thangs from Copley Township and the Beachcomber from Bath Township; Popsmith, which sells frozen ice pops; Massillon sweet shop Chocolates by Erin; and Stray Dog Carts, from Cuyahoga Falls. That’s dogs as in hot dogs.
From 6 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, the park will be the site of the 16th annual Wine Tasting and Silent Auction, which includes appetizers and a silent auction. Tickets are $40, two for $75. Purchase by calling 330-375-2836.
Then on Saturday, more than 160 artists move in for the Akron Arts Expo, a juried fine arts and crafts show. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free, and free parking is available on the grounds or at Firestone High School.
Hardesty Park is at 1615 W. Market St. Event details are at www.akronartsexpo.org.
Fiore’s closes in Montrose
Fiore’s Italian Steakhouse in Copley Township has closed. The Montrose restaurant opened last year at the space that formerly housed the short-lived Nicolinni’s Restaurant on “Restaurant Hill,” off Medina Road (state Route 18.)
Earlier this year, the Montrose restaurant touted in advertisements that it had hired well-known local chef Roger Thomas as food and beverage manager. Thomas invested long hours at the place and revamped the menu, explaining in an earlier interview that he wanted “to modernize it … make it fresher in flavor.”
Thomas said Tuesday that the owner brought him on board to shore up a failing operation. He said he was making progress, but the owner made the decision to close Monday. The leased building was costly to operate and the bad winter kept customers away.
Thomas is now focusing on the Wooster location, and he has “other irons in the fire” that he was not ready to discuss yet. Gift cards will be honored at the Fiore’s at 2179 Lincoln Way E. in Wooster.
Growing Hope celebration
Here’s a chance to whip up some homemade salsa and win a prize. It’s part of the Growing Hope Summer Celebration from 6 to 8 p.m. Aug. 1 at Crouse Community Learning Center, 1000 Diagonal Road in West Akron.
The event also will feature a presentation, “It’s Never Too Late to Plant,” about vegetables that can be planted in August and harvested this year.
Judges will select the salsa winner, and attendees can sample the entries after the judging. Organizers encourage attendees to bring a snack to share.
Growing Hope is a program of the nonprofit Summit Food Policy Coalition. Call Katie Fry at 330-608-1454 or go to www.summitfpc.wordpress.com.
Hungarian picnic
The Hungarian American Club will host its Large Club Picnic — open to the public — from noon to 7 p.m. Saturday at its property at 694 E. Waterloo Road in Akron. The event will feature Hungarian food, pastries and music.
Cook-off in Wooster
Head chefs representing five of the area’s Buehler’s Fresh Foods locations will compete for the title “Top Smokehouse Chef” at Buehler’s Smokehouse Cook-Off from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday. The event will be at Buehler’s Wooster Milltown parking lot at 3540 Burbank Road, in Wooster’s north end.
Attendees can graze on food from five chef’s stations and then vote for their favorite. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for children 12 and under.
The winning chef’s recipes will be available for purchase at Buehler’s locations. Go to www.buehlers.com.
Katie Byard can be reached at 330-996-3781 or kbyard@thebeaconjournal.com. You can also become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/KatieByardABJ.