Vitolo Sorrentino Italian Supper Club opening in Garden City South's former ITA Kitchen

A venerable NYC Italian restaurant has partnered with a relative Long Island upstart and the result, Vitolo Sorrentino Italian Supper Club, is planning to open in Garden City South by early November.

Anthony Vitolo, the chef at Emilio’s Ballato on Houston Street, is joining forces with Salvatore Sorrentino to relaunch the location that, until July, had been Sorrentino’s ITA Kitchen, offering a playful, Instagram-friendly take on Italian American cuisine with over-the-top dishes such as chicken Francese topped with mozzarella and cherry peppers or veal chop smothered with prosciutto, mozzarella and truffle-mushroom Marsala sauce.

Emilio’s Ballato on Houston Street opened as Ballato’s in 1956 and was bought in 1992 by Vitolo’s father, Emilio. Since then, it has become a celebrity magnet, attracting the likes of George Clooney, Bobby Flay, Gigi Hadid, Billy Joel, Rihanna, Jerry Seinfeld, Martha Stewart, Taylor Swift and Jeremy Allen White.

The Garden City South menu, Vitolo said, would feature Italian American classics from his city spot, but also many of the popular specialties that are not on the menu, such as mozzarella in carrozza, spaghetti cacio e pepe and veal "Antonio" (a pounded, center-cut chop, fried and topped with vodka sauce, peas, mozzarella and fried prosciutto).

ITA Kitchen, which opened in 2022, closed in July. While Sal and his wife-partner, Christina, decided what to do next with the space, they hosted two pop-ups with Vitolo. Both chefs had eaten at one another’s restaurants and were fans. Christina observed that both were second-generation chefs: Sal’s father, Andrew (who died in 2009), had been the chef at Matteo’s in Hewlett and Roslyn. (It was Sal’s late grandfather Salvatore who founded Matteo’s with his sons, Matthew and Andrew. The chain grew to nine locations; all but Bellmore and Howard Beach were sold to Jerry Sbarro in 2009.)

"This restaurant," Christina said, "it’s the perfect marriage of next-generation chefs. ITA Kitchen took Sal away from his roots, now he’s going back. Anthony never left."

While Anthony runs a kitchen in Manhattan, he grew up in Wantagh — his first job was as a bar back at Matteo’s in Bellmore — and lives in Smithtown. "All my people are out here," he said. "They will be happy not to have to drive into the city. And Garden City South is the perfect midpoint on my commute."

The 120-seat restaurant is also getting a cosmetic makeover, ditching the contemporary black-and-white decor (with lots of fake greenery and flowers) for what Christina described as "very 1950s New York — rich velvets, golds and espresso colors." Adding to the supper-club vibe will be live music on weekends.

The Sorrentinos opened their first ITA Kitchen in 2019 in Bay Shore; it closed in 2025. With partners, they opened additional locations in Garden City South as well as East Moriches and Patchogue (both in 2023). East Moriches, a seasonal location, did not reopen for 2026. Patchogue remains open. The Sorrentinos are no longer involved with the group.