TRIANGLE TODAY | THE NEWS & OBSERVER
WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 2018
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CAPTURES SPIRIT OF CENTRAL ITALY Greg Cox for Triangle Today For the better part of the past two decades, the name Cinelli has been synonymous with Italian-American cuisine in the Triangle. Gianni Cinelli moved here from New York in 1998 and opened the first Cinelli’s in Durham in 2001. Brothers Gaitano and Peter soon followed suit with Cinelli’s (same name, but a more casual pizzeria concept) in North Raleigh and Cary. Both of those brothers have since moved on, but Gianni Cinelli stuck around. By his reckoning, he has owned or partnered in 22 restaurants over the years, including Vivo, which remains open on Six Forks Road. The concepts have ranged from family-friendly pizzeria to romantic ristorante, but all have shared a common thread: roots in the Italian-American tra-
dition Cinelli knew while growing up in a first-generation family of restaurateurs in New York. Somewhere along the way, Cinelli began to dream of tracing his culinary roots further back. He wanted to open a restaurant that would serve Italian regional fare with a focus on the cuisine of Central Italy, where his family lived before immigrating to New York in 1965. That dream became reality in February, when Cinelli opened Osteria G in Holly Springs. Cinelli’s renditions of regional classic dishes aren’t slavishly authentic, but they do capture the spirit of the original. The result is good, by and large — sometimes very good — though the kitchen crew are still learning the ropes of cooking dishes rarely seen before in these parts.
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Pan-seared duck breast, blanketed in a cherry sauce that’s brightened with a crisp white wine that takes the place of the customary chianti, is another special destined for the regular menu at Osteria G. Juli Leonard