Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Pirolo.
Michael, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I started my culinary career in Costigliole D’asti at I.C.I.F (Italian Culinary Institute for Foreigners). As part of the program all students were required to do an externship in a Michelin rated restaurant. The externship was supposed to be three months, but I was so enthralled with the experience that I ended up staying in Italy for 3 years and staging in 4 different restaurants. When I came back to the states, I worked in various restaurants including opening Scarpetta in NYC, which is how I ended up in Miami. After 4 years of running Scarpetta, I wanted to do my own thing and I decided to open my own restaurant. I teamed up with my wife Jennifer and my sister Jacqueline to open Macchialina. Miami Beach has a lot of very high end opulent restaurants but at the time we opened Macchialina no one was doing the chef driven neighborhood restaurant in Miami which is, I think, a major reason for our success. We opened providing the same quality food and service of some of the bigger restaurants without all the hassles and pretentiousness that sometimes comes with it. We now also have the Saint Austere in Brooklyn and Pirolo’s Panino in Los Angeles.
Has it been a smooth road?
Smooth Road????? Um no, there’s no such thing……….. Opening a restaurant is never easy as there are many moving parts and countless things that come up that you can’t plan for. Not to mention, overseeing kitchens in different cities, I feel like I’m constantly learning and improving.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Macchialina story. Tell us more about the business.
I think we are most known for our honest and soulful approach to Italian cuisine. We try hard to respect tradition, while also focusing on innovation. Our bread and butter is our housemate pasta and over the years we have developed quite a following because of it.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I think as a society we are becoming more and more educated on where our food comes from and who is preparing it and as a result you see more chefs entering the fast casual sector. At Pirolo’s Panino in Los Angeles, we are trying to give the same experience you get at Macchialina or The Saint Austere at a much lower price point.
Pricing:
- Thursday’s we offer $10 pastas at Macchialina and The Saint Austere in Williamsburg Brooklyn. Every Thursday all of our pastas are only $10 all night long!
Contact Info:
- Address: 820 Alton Road
Miami Beach, FL 33139 - Website: www.macchialina.com
- Phone: 305-534-2124
- Email: info@macchialina.com
- Instagram: @macchialina
- Facebook: @macchialina
Image Credit:
@lizclayman
@52chefs
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