By WES FERGUSON
John Imperial’s new Italian market had been open for less than two weeks last month when Valentine’s Day came, and husbands in Kyle started to panic.
They hadn’t made reservations at a fancy restaurant, but that didn’t mean their wives weren’t expecting a romantic dinner for two.
“You have to help me, man,” they told Imperial, in his retelling of the story.
“Can you boil water?” Imperial asked.
Yes, they could. They could also turn on an oven. Imperial sent them home with flash-frozen lobster ravioli, cups of tangy vodka sauce, pesto or fra diavola, parmigianas, tortellinis, and other traditional fare that even the most hapless chef can handle.
He’s heard no complaints.
“This is quality,” Imperial said.
The food is prepared in New York by a small, 45-year-old franchise chain called Villarina’s Pasta and Fine Foods, and the Villarina’s in Kyle is the first location outside of New York or Connecticut. Imperial said he learned of the franchise from a friend and fellow Italian who swore by the pastas and prepared dinners.
“For us to eat the food and it’s not made by our parents or grandparents, that says something,” he said.
Imperial said he grew up in a big Italian family in an apartment in the Little Italy section of the Bronx, with grandparents who dropped the “E” from the family’s last name of Imperiale when immigrating to the United States. Imperial was asked who makes better food — his mother, or Villarina’s. He seemed torn for a moment between family and franchise allegiances.
“The eggplant parmigiana is very close to what my mom makes,” he said. “The baked ziti is an old Italian recipe. The food is wonderful.”
A Driftwood resident, Imperial is lead vocalist in the local band Driftwood Moon and has been importing espresso and coffee since 1986. He also distributes espresso to several restaurants in the area, he said, including Olive Garden and Jeffrey’s in Austin. Soon he’ll be giving free java shots at Villarina’s as well.
Over the past month he’s been stocking the shop with cheeses and salamis, balsamic vinegar and other goods as he expands to a full-fledged Italian market. On Thursday afternoon, he was setting up a metal vat where he can pour individual servings of Coratina olive oil imported from Puglia in southern Italy.
“It’s a big Italian tradition,” he said.
Imperial also plans to start cutting his own pasta but has been told he must install a kitchen to meet government codes for preparing food on site. Prices range from $4.19 for a pound of whole-wheat pasta and $6.99 for 12 plump cheese raviolis on the lower end, to an eight-pound lasagna that will feed 10 people for $48.
“I’m going to give you better-than-restaurant quality that you eat at home,” he said. “The pasta tastes like pasta. You can buy a box of pasta at the store and it costs a buck. Well, it tastes like a buck.”
Customer Leslie Atnipp of Kyle dropped in to pick up an entree and some pasta for her family’s dinner that night.
“It just tastes awesome. I don’t know how else to describe it,” she said, later adding, “I like being able to cook at home. It’s something different here in Kyle besides Mexican food and pizza.”
Villarina’s Pasta and Fine Foods
101B Hall Professional Center, Kyle
512-772-1985
villarinas.com
