Nick Pihakis strolls through the dining room and into the kitchen at Pihakis Restaurant Group’s soon-to-open Luca Lagotto restaurant. There, chefs prepare pizzas made from dough in ovens imported from Italy.
He then wanders towards the front of the building and enters the Luca Mercato Lagotto, which becomes the market. There, customers can stop by and pick up imported and domestic wines, cured meats, canned fish, cheese, olive oil and more. Homemade sauce and pasta too.
Pihakis then steps out onto the adjacent courtyard, an inviting space where guests can enjoy drinks and meals surrounded by olive trees.
The Italian Restaurant & Market, scheduled to open Feb. 20 in downtown Homewood, is a concept inspired by an extended trip to Greece and Italy that members of the Pihakis restaurant family took in October 2022.
The Italian leg of that trip included visits to several villages in northern Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region.
“We were really inspired by the small village that created this amazing product,” Pihakis says. “I was also inspired by the way they set up a business by having a market and a restaurant (together).”
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Menu development
Luca, the collective name for the restaurant and market, is located in a newly constructed building at 1722 28th Ave. South in Homewood, just steps away from Pihakis Restaurant Group’s Rodney Scott’s BBQ and Little Donkey restaurants. Located next door. The new location of another of his PRG facilities, Hero Donuts & Buns, will relocate from his original location, 3027 Central Ave.
“We really liked the idea of having our restaurants nearby,” Pihakis says. “People can choose where they want to park and go.”
Related: The story of brothers Rodney and Nick who barbecue
Rita Bernhardt, executive chef at Luca Lagotto, collaborated on the menu with Paul Yeck, executive chef at Pihakis Restaurant Group. The current menu includes dishes such as grilled fish, roasted chicken, spaghetti with clams and rigatoni with fennel sausage, as well as share plates such as fried carbonara and sea bream crudo, as well as a selection of Roman and Neapolitan pizzas.
The spirits menu includes wine by the glass and bottle, craft beers from Alabama breweries, and classic signature cocktails.
Connection with Alabama
Pihakis Restaurant Group worked with Michael Shows and Will Hall of Montgomery-based Chambless King Architects to design a space that blends traditional Italian elements with some modern touches.
“We both had a lot of fun collaborating,” says Angie Mosier, creative director of Pihakis Restaurant Group. “After we got back from Italy, we pasted up all these pictures and tried to explain what struck us. And they got it.”
Birmingham-based Alabama Sawyer makes handcrafted furniture from recycled fallen trees, creating dining room tables, booths and banquettes, and another Birmingham company, Elegant Earth, , made planters and stone tables for the courtyard.
The restaurant seats 129 people indoors and 60 people outdoors.
Marcus Fetch, who decorates buildings across Birmingham with eye-catching murals, painted one of the exterior walls of a restaurant and market with a refreshing mural of a woman on a bicycle.
“The colors of the building, the shutters, the murals, the awnings were all inspired by what we saw[in Italy],” Mosier said. “I was blown away by some of the restaurants I visited there. I loved the combination of modern atmosphere in an old building.”
What’s your name?
The restaurant’s name, Luca Lagotto, is a nod to Nick and Suzanne Pihakis’ beloved dog, Luca, an Italian Lagotto Romagnolo breed known as the “truffle dog.” They auctioned off the dog to benefit Southern Foodways Alliance at Blackberry Farm, one of the few places in the United States that breeds Lagotto Romagnolo dogs.
Luca’s sketch is featured on the restaurant’s menu.
“He’s a great dog,” Pihakis says. “He’s jumping all over the place, just full of energy, just full of life.”
In addition to Luca Lagotto and Luca Mercato Lagotto, Pihakis Restaurant Group’s restaurant brands include Rodney Scott’s Barbecue, Hero Donuts & Buns, Little Donkey, and Tasty Town Greek Restaurant & Lounge. It is included. The company owns and operates restaurants in Birmingham, Montgomery, Atlanta, Nashville and Charleston, South Carolina.
Pihakis, who got into the restaurant business with his father in 1985 by opening the original Jim & Nick’s Bar-B-Q in Birmingham, says opening a new restaurant never gets old.
“That’s what we do,” he says. “It’s in your blood. Every time we do something new, it’s always just as exciting.”
Luca Lagotto and Luca Mercato Lagotto are located at 1722 28th Ave. South in Homewood, Alabama. For more information, Go here.