Local chef opens new Italian-theme restaurant
Cooking at two restaurants, Joe Carei has whittled his workweek down to about 100 hours. Carei, a well-known area chef who owns Caileigh’s Restaurant in Uniontown, has opened Pasta Lorenzo, an Italian-themed eatery on Wayland Smith Drive in the Fayette Business Park just west of Uniontown.
Although it’s been a challenge to continue cooking at his Caileigh’s Restaurant in Uniontown and open Pasta Lorenzo, Carei said it’s been the fulfillment of a long-term dream.
“About five years ago we got the ball rolling for this,’ Carei said of the new restaurant, a $1.1 million venture he is joined in by partners Jim Stambaugh and Marcial Agabon.
Pasta Lorenzo, named after Carei’s father, offers “homemade Italian comfort food’ in an atmosphere reminiscent of his father’s ancestral Basilicata region of Italy and the history of the Laurel Highlands of southwestern Pennsylvania. “Our arches are modeled after coke ovens, which were so important to the region,’ he said. Stonework mimics that found at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater near Farmington, as does a cantilevered veranda holding outdoor seating.
Carei said his father, Guiseppi Lorenzo Tricarico, “in order to solidify his patriotism, changed his name to Joseph Lorenzo Carei, while serving as a marine in Korea.
“He may have changed his name, but he didn’t change his love for his heritage, his commitment to family, his affection for people and his passion for food,” Carei added.
The lunch and dinner menu reflects Carei’s background: It is a list of favorites ranging from lasagna to spaghetti and meatballs to signature dinners, including salmon Tricarico, steak Italiano, chicken marsala, risotto, gnocchi, or Italian roast pork. Sausage and pepper sandwiches, capicola panini or wood-fired pizzas are choices for lunch or for diners desiring a lighter meal.
“The menu is years and years of recipes from my family, Caileigh’s and other places I have worked,’ Carei said. “A large part of the menu has recipes that I have done before, things like lasagna, manicotti, bread soup.’
But a Pasta Lorenzo specialty is pizza made in a wood-fired stone oven, which is a return to his cooking roots.
“I started out making pizza. It was the first job I had and I almost opened a small pizzeria when I got out of college,’ Carei said. At 16, Carei made and delivered pizzas for Paul’s Pizza in Vineland, N.J. While in college at Susquehanna University, he managed Vito’s NY Style Pizza and Italian Restaurant and then moved on with stints in Wildwood and in Copenhagen, Denmark.
But after moving to southwestern Pennsylvania, Carei opened a more upscale restaurant in the former Thompson House in Brownsville. In 1999, he moved Caileigh’s to the Barton Grey House on East Fayette Street, Uniontown.
Carei, who successfully battled colon cancer, also has been very active in the community. In addition to his professional work (in 2005, Carei was named Pennsylvania’s Restaurateur of the Year by the Pennsylvania Restaurant Association), Carei has helped organize and sponsor a variety of events, including the Celebrity Chef Event to raise money for Colon Cancer (visit www.celebritychef.com), Chef Joe’s Omelet Run for charity, Hair of the Dog Run, the Carei Kid’s Christmas Concert, along with supporting many other causes helps make Fayette County their home. He was recognized in 2007 with a Pennsylvania Good Neighbor award, sponsored by American Express and The National Restaurant Association.
Through all this, the pizza shop, he said, “kind of got put on hold.’
But when he began talking about it again, Carei decided it should be more than a pizzeria.
“I talked with Ray Pohaski (former director of the Fayette County Redevelopment Authority) about buying some land,’ which led to the purchase of Pasta Lorenzo’s site fronting Route 40 west.
Using nearly all local contractors and suppliers, Carei and his partners designed the restaurant, making changes “as we went along,’ to accommodate what they wanted the restaurant to be. “Since we did it ourselves, it took longer. But what we have is exactly what we wanted,’ Carei said.
“Nearly every hand that touched any part of the building from the foundation, to the timbers to the finished tile was from Fayette County. The craftsmanship of the woodwork, ironwork and hand-painted accents were by the talents of Fayette County residents. Every dollar that was earned was used to provide for Fayette County families,’ Carei said.
“We wanted to promote Fayette County with this project,’ he added.
“We felt that, in order to be viable as a local restaurant, we needed to get local guys to show we really believe in this area,’ Carei said.
“Although we are seeing growth in the county, we know real growth means using Fayette County resources. The money needs to stay here,’ he said.
Some of the contractors and businesses that worked on the project included Guzik Concrete, Blout Paving, Ed Crum, Faris Carpet, Pine Hollow Mechanical, Ed Claypoole, John Macho Electric, Kim Eperjesi, McMillen Engineering, Fayette Engineering, Nella Balling, Miller Roofing, Cluss Lumber, Jeff the painter Perkins, Dennis Cropp, Von Signs, Scott Wivell and Fairchance Construction.
In addition to his pride in the local connection, Carei also is pleased that he can immediately respond to customer’s requests.
“They don’t have to call someone in Los Angeles or e-mail someone. We are local. When they come in the door, we are here. We will have a new menu on Tuesday that shows we listen to what people have been saying. We will have more lunch specials. Our wine list is on the menu now,’ he said.
Diners also will be able to “build their own pasta,’ by ordering imported pastas with their choice of sauces and other ingredients.
The restaurant can seat up to 160 people in its dining room and bar area. There is also a special “community table,’ right in front of the open kitchen, for smaller groups and parties. Attached to the 4,500-square-foot building is the cantilevered veranda, which will hold up to 50 people for outside parties and dining.
The staff includes four certified chefs and more than 30 others. Pasta Lorenzo is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. weekdays and from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. weekends.
Meanwhile, Pasta Lorenzo will celebrate its grand opening Tuesday. The public may attend and a ribbon cutting will be held at 11 a.m. A private luncheon at the restaurant will follow. That evening, the public is invited to dine at the restaurant and take advantage of a number of grand opening specials. A percentage of the evening’s proceeds will benefit colon cancer awareness.
For additional information, call the restaurant at 724-437-4400 or visit its Web site at www.pastalorenzo.com.