MOTS2016

Giovanni Migliorini Giovanni Migliorini has been creating an authentic Italian dining experience at Café Epicure in downtown Sarasota since 2000. Migliorini and his partners are Italian-born, as are many of Café Epicure’s staff, who share Migliorini’s passion for their country’s cuisine and for the restaurant business itself. That passion shines through in the classic dishes on the menu that stay true to the original recipes and in his insistence upon using the freshest seasonal ingredients available, with simple preparations that are the trademarks of Italian cuisine.

Migliorini is a familiar face at the restaurant, which is known as much for a friendly atmosphere where customers often are greeted by name as for its made-from-scratch pasta, sauces and pastry and stunning bar area. He and his partners, who also established the more formal Mediterraneo on upper Main Street in Sarasota in 1996, are planning to replicate their success at a new restaurant, Frittata, on Palm Avenue, just two blocks from Café Epicure.

Frittata will focus on organic breakfast and lunch offerings for the rising number of diners who are seeking cleaner ingredients when eating out.

Born in Genoa, Italy, Migliorini spent his early career as an officer on a cruise ship, but when he tired of that life, visited a friend in New York City who got him started in the restaurant business. He believes one secret to his success is that he has worked in virtually every position in the business. Migliorini understands the needs of, and can relate to, his employees and knows the support they need in order to elicit their best efforts. Giving back also is important to him, and over the years, he has helped many nonprofit fundraisers. He likes to spend precious free time with his son, Lorenzo, who is a senior in high school, and playing tennis or working on future business projects.

Men on the SCENE 2016