Bucci's Italian Scratch Kitchen to offer Marion favorite traditional dishes

The creative minds behind Marion's newest Italian restaurant are making steady progress toward its planned opening around the end of April.

Bucci's Italian Scratch Kitchen is located in the former home of The Warehouse Italian Dinners at 320 W. Center St. in downtown Marion. That familiar locale in the city's downtown district will also house Urban501, the newest wedding and event venue created by entrepreneurs Luke Henry and Alex Sheridan.

Henry and Sheridan purchased the facility in September 2022 from former owner Yorkland LLC under the umbrella of The Brickyard on Main LLC for $300,000, according to the Marion County Auditor's website. The entire footprint of the building is approximately 12,500 square feet, according to the auditor's website. The restaurant will be located on the ground floor in the same space that The Warehouse formerly occupied.

"We had the vision when we bought this building that we wanted an iconic restaurant in this main portion and the rest would be the event space," Henry said. "It's going to be a whole different vibe, a whole new experience. We're really excited to bring something to Marion that you can bring your family to or you can have an anniversary or retirement party here, too. We're excited about providing the tables where people can make memories."

Henry and Sheridan have hired an experienced management team. John Paul Iacobucci is the restaurant's executive chef. Kim Adkins is the general manager. Stevielyn Brady is the kitchen and catering manager.

Henry said the team came together "organically" after he and Sheridan announced their plans for the building.

"Just by putting feelers out into the community, the cream just rose to the top," he explained. "All of these folks just kind of came to us. Then the opportunity started to crystalize that this team would be able to bring something special to this building."

Iacobucci, Adkins, and Brady each bring a great deal of experience to the new venture and all three are Marion natives. Iacobucci has worked his way up from dishwasher to executive chef at Martini Modern Italian in the Short North of Columbus over the course of his career, which began when he was a teenager in Marion. He worked at The Warehouse as a teen and then studied at Columbus State Community College. He's happy to return home, though.

"It's such a cool building and has so much character and I heard about what (Henry and Sheridan) were doing downtown and it was just really inspiring," he said. "This community gave me so much, so this is a way for me to give back to the community and make something really unique and good."

Like Iacobucci, Brady has worked at several local restaurants, including five and a half years at The Warehouse. She said the building is a special place and is looking forward to making the restaurant successful.

"I love this building. I love feeding people very much," she said. "It's a good opportunity, like John Paul said, to give back to the community. I thoroughly love downtown Marion and everything about it, so I want to be back here."

Adkins has a great deal of experience in restaurant management and, like her new colleagues, said she's excited about creating something new and special in downtown Marion. She worked as general manager of Perkins Restaurant and Bakery and Bob Evans Restaurant, Penn Station in Marion. Adkins is in charge of staffing the restaurant.

"We're looking for people who want to go above and beyond," Adkins said. "We're looking for people who are excited about what we're trying to do here and who want to be part of a bigger project. We want to create a friendly culture where we greet people when they come in and then thank them for coming. We want to revive the old customer service that we were used to. We want to bring the old back to new."

Patrons of Bucci's Italian Scratch Kitchen will be treated to a traditional Italian-American restaurant, Iacobucci said.

"We'll have all the dishes you expect to find in an Italian restaurant," he said. "Spaghetti, spaghetti and meatballs, pizza, Italian wedding soup, Caesar salad, and other things you'd find at traditional Italian restaurants. We're keeping it very simple, but the quality is going to be very high. Our attention to detail when we're preparing this food is going to be elevated, so freshness will be a priority.

"We're using fresh herbs and other fresh ingredients. We're making our own marinara sauce in house. We're making our pasta al dente. We'll have fresh parmesan cheese grated on top. We're using fundamental cooking techniques so this food can really sing. That's our approach and that's what great Italian food is all about."

Brady said the feedback she's received from family and friends since word about Bucci's Italian Scratch Kitchen hit social media has been extremely positive.

"There's so much excitement," she said. "Everyone's excited. They're excited for this building to come back to life. They're excited for good food. Everybody has good reputations and that goes a long way. When the community knows who you are, what you're doing, and what you're about, that's important."

Sheridan said he believes Bucci's Italian Scratch Kitchen will be an important piece of the ongoing plan to mold downtown Marion into a destination for dining, shopping, and other activities.

"Bringing in outside dollars is important to helping a community grow and thrive," he said. "I think it's important to the perception of Marion to be known for having quality restaurants, cool wedding venues, just things to do and see. Eighty percent of the weddings we host (at The Brickyard on Main) are people from out of town, so while they're here, we want to give them some options and things to do to make their visit memorable so they can spread the word about what's happening here."

For information about Bucci's Italian Scratch Kitchen, go to the restaurant's Facebook page or its website www.buccisitalian.com. Anyone interested in applying for a job at the restaurant should click on the "Apply Now" tab on the website.

Email: ecarter@gannett.com | Twitter: @AndrewACCarter

This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Bucci's Italian Scratch Kitchen to offer traditional favorite dishes