One of Shreveport’s favorite restaurants reaches magical milestone
As part owner of Chianti Restaurant, Antonio (Nino) Giacalone doesn’t plan to make any changes to the landmark eatery.
September 1 was the 6535 Line Ave. restaurant’s 35th anniversary. That’s 35 years of serving delicious, northern Italian cuisine in a romantic atmosphere with – on certain evenings – a side order of relaxing music.
“When we opened up the restaurant, we realized the place had a certain amount of – I’m going to call it ‘magic,’” Antonio said. “That’s rare in a restaurant. When you open it up, if the magic is there, it’s there. If it’s not, it’s not. We haven’t touched that in 35 years. We haven’t done any changes. We’ve been serving basically veal Marsala, veal Limone and chicken Milanese for 35 years, and everybody still wants it.”
However, there are plenty of other outstanding dishes which you can enjoy. Chianti’s menu offers tempting appetizers, soups, salads, traditional and specialty pasta dishes, entrees, sides and desserts. If you wish, you can complement your meal with one of a variety of sparkling, white and red wines.
Because customers like what they like, Chianti’s menu only changes every couple of years – and those changes are slight. Not for lack of dishes from which to add, but because – again – if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.
“There is a pretty big pool (of dishes) we can pull from in the northern Italian cuisine, but people want the same thing!” Giacalone said. “We tried cured beef a little while back. Nobody was ordering it. We did an avocado dish with lump crabmeat … but we always go back to the basic — northern Italian cuisine.”
But that’s not to say if you want something you don’t see on the menu, Chianti’s chefs won’t make it.
“We do specials,” Giacalone said. “When we see a special become very popular – like right now, people want Presto Chicken Parmesan; it’s not on the menu, but they ask for it – so, I am going to assume that this fall, when we change the menu, we are going to put chicken Parmesan on the menu because people are asking for it.”
One of the reasons Chianti has been so popular for so long is the food’s consistent taste. If you like how your meal tastes one visit, you want it to taste the same on your next visit.
“Consistency is important because when you have cooks that have been trained to do a product, if you don’t stay on top of it, that product becomes something else,” Giacalone explained. “I’ve actually seen it happen. The consistency is there to make sure the dish doesn’t change from 35 years ago. … If people like it, we need to make sure it stays the same. When I go to a different restaurant, like in Las Vegas or Austin, and I have a veal there, it’s not the same. They don’t do the same product. We have a good product, and all this time we want to make sure that it tastes the same.”
With Antonio (Nino) and his brother (and part owner) Enrico being born in the Sicily region of Italy, you might expect Chianti’s recipes to have been handed down from generations of Antonio and Enrico’s family. However, the brothers have relied on tried-and-true recipes from some of Italy’s finest chefs.
“These recipes were written by great chefs,” Giacalone said. “What we have is northern Italian cuisine. Enrico is a chef, and there are a couple of recipes he did from scratch that we have, but they are very similar to the northern Italian cuisine.”
When dining at Chianti, you can sit in either the main dining area, the Green Room, or the bar area – which is in the Green Room. If you dine in the Green Room on a Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday evening, you will get something extra with your meal – the soothing sounds of some of our area’s finest musicians.
One of those, Dorsey Summerfield Jr., has been playing at Chianti for at least 25 years.
“Beautiful. Beautiful,” Giacalone said of Summerfield’s music. “To hear him play in the background while sitting in the Green Room, it’s a wonderful feeling. You feel like you are in New York or Los Angeles – a big city – where Shreveport is a small town.”
Antonio and Enrico started Chianti Restaurant in 1987. Sixteen years ago, Antonio left the restaurant business. A year ago, he returned, bringing his son, Santino.
“He’s a year older than me,” Antonio said of Enrico. “He’s exhausted. He needs a break. I came in with my son to make sure (Enrico) works one-third – or less. … I am the younger brother, so I am trying to take a load off my (older) brother.”
When you walk into Chianti, you will likely see either Antonio, Enrico, Santino or all three. In other words, they are very “hands-on” owners.
“It’s all about not letting it go to your head,” Giacalone said. “Owning a restaurant doesn’t mean you can walk around as a restaurant owner. You have to keep working.”
Working to ensure Chianti Restaurant doesn’t lose that “magic” its customers have enjoyed for 35 years.
Chianti Restaurant is open for lunch Sunday-Friday 11 a.m.-2 p.m., dinner Sunday-Thursday (5 p.m.-8:45 p.m.), and Friday-Saturday (5 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.).
You may view their menu at www.chiantirestaurant.net. You may make reservations by calling 868-8866.
