So, are all the rumors true? A native Sicilian , world trained , internationally acclaimed , award winning master chef here in our parish.Yes , it is true and let me be the first to say how fortunate we are to have Gio here as part of our Northshore family. I guess you are wondering how he ended up in Mandeville via Palermo , Toronto , England , Switzerland , Spain , France , Canada ,Las Vegas and Japan. After much prompting from an old friend , Gio decided to visit and quickly fell in love with the area . It reminded him of his childhood home in Sicily where the air is warm and the people are all about family . He decided that this would be the place where he would settle down " retire" with his wife , Yoko at his side raising their two school age children , Massimo and Angelina . Now with the portraits of Pappa , Salvatore and Mamma , Angelina hanging on the wall looking down upon him , Gio is here to stay.

I must admit at at first I was hesitant to go to a restaurant that has only been open for about a couple of months , but to my delight the only indication of the newness was the staff . They were very accommodating and honestly after one bite of Chef's Gio's Veal Piccata nothing else really mattered!

As usual i I had my family come with me to "try out" Villa Vancheri. This night in particular they were a hungry bunch and i worried that if the food was not on the table soon that things were going to get very ugly , very quickly . So a round of drinks (F.Y.I. - the Chianti by the glass is excellent) for everyone and some appetizers ASP! The first thing i noticed was the freshness of the ingredients in all of the dishes . My husband ordered one of his favorite starters and of course i rolled my eyes at him until I tasted this flavorful dish ,Carciofi con Spinach Dip .

This was no ordinary spinach dip this one was full of roasted garlic , artichoke hearts , fresh spinach , Parmesan and mozzarella cheese. Yes , this was the appetizer that everyone was fighting to get the last taste of. The Calamari Fritti was delicious , too , but it was the marinara made with fresh tomatoes and herbs that made this one stand out....I do love sauces and "gravies"!

After the appetizers I was getting very excited about moving on to the secondi piatti (entrees). I had not seen a menu like this one since my husband and I lived in the New York area where good Italian food is a way of life . Well , with eight of us for dinner we were able to cover much of the menu and to say the least we were all raving about our choices . My Mom , being of Sicilian descent , was so excited to see peas in her red gravy . She said that was the way her grandmother use to sweeten her sauce. The dish she ordered was the Eggplant Angelina ; it was a basic dish of thinly sliced eggplant , mozzarella chesse , marinara , fresh herbs and a few other secrets the Chef Gio keeps close at heart.


I thoroughly enjoyed not only my meal , but meeting Gio. He has traveled numerous roads and met countless interesting and famous people , and i believe , in some ways, this is reflected in the essence of each dish . Villa Vancheri is going to be a welcomed additin to the Northshore and Chef Gio wants everyone to know that " You will come in as a stranger , leave as a friend and return as part of his family"