Family Restaurant. Second generation. 

Article from VeroNews.com: Scampi’s a color chef-owner Alex Amelio would have seen adding a dollop of cream to a purée of plum tomatoes long before he started working with his father Mimmo, who opened Scampi across from the Patio restaurant in 2000. (Scampi is just one of a half-dozen local restaurants that have been owned at one time or another by Mimmo’s extended family, who moved here from Naples, Italy.)

A chip off the old block, Alex loved cooking even as a child, helping out his mother Grazia in the kitchen. When he was 15, he got a job at Brian Gilbert’s Black Pearl, and within weeks was working under lead sous-chef Leanne Kelleher, now chef-owner of the Tides.

He knew he loved restaurant work, the split-second timing of the dinner rush, the nimble people skills that kept a staff loyal, the relentless pressure on vendors to deliver only the best ingredients. And of course the creation of the dishes.

Alex knew he didn’t fit the mold his father envisioned for him, a life as a professional like his two brothers.

“He didn’t want us to have anything to do with the restaurant business, and I don’t blame him,” says Alex, now married to Emerald, his high school sweetheart, and father to four children under the age of 8. He says his dad knew how restaurant work impacted family life and didn’t want his sons to make that sacrifice.

“But like I said, I was never one to listen to anybody anyways. Finally, he said, ‘Come join the team.’”

Alex was only 19 when he took over the apron from his dad. From the start, each had his turf. “You stay out of my kitchen, I’ll stay out of the front,” he told his dad. “It actually worked awesome.”

With time, Alex has enabled his father to take semi-retirement. “I went in, and Dad went home.”

“It was great because it was a blank canvas. I didn’t have to worry about busting up concrete. I can do whatever I want,” says Alex.

The kitchen is open, a feature Alex enjoys. 

The Tuscan-themed décor will feature natural wood and stone elements against walls in a warm red-orange created by Alex himself. “I took two paints and mixed them together. My dad said it was the coolest color he’s ever seen – the coolest warm color,” he notes in a nod to his dad’s talent as an abstract artist.

“It’ll still be cozy,” he says.