'You don't need to go to Italy to find authentic food': Cotto Modern Italian set to open on Gainesville square

Rachel Estes, The Times, Gainesville, Ga.
Updated ·4 min read

Apr. 13—Flavors of the old world served in sophisticated style will soon become an everyday institution of the Gainesville square.

Cotto Modern Italian, the newest concept of husband-and-wife restaurateurs Scott and Alexis Kinsey and Naples-born chef Raffaele Crispino, is slated to begin offering a "cozy, high-end dining experience" Monday, April 24.

Cotto Modern Italian

Slated to open: April 24

Where: 106 Spring St. Suite 101, Gainesville

Hours: 5-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 5-10 p.m. Friday; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday; 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday

More info: cottoitalian.com or @cottoitalian on Instagram

Reservations, though not required, are recommended, and can be secured at cottoitalian.com once the website is live. Bar seating will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

The website, according to the owners, will also include a form for guests to complete to be among the first to patronize the restaurant during its grand opening week. Upon submitting the form, the owners will contact each guest to book their reservation. During its first week of business, the restaurant will be open for dinner service only Monday-Friday.

Cotto is set to offer traditional dishes running the gamut from risottos and grilled meats to classic pastas and gnocchi, meatballs, steamed mussels and wood-fired, Neapolitan-style pizzas along with Italian-inspired cocktails and roughly 50 wines.

"We have a lot of your traditional favorites, and then we have some things that are more traditional to Italy than the States," Alexis said.

The menu, curated by Scott and Crispino, who worked together about 25 years ago at Romano's Macaroni Grill, will be devoid of "New York Italian" staples like manicotti, fettuccine Alfredo and chicken parmesan.

"(Those dishes are) Italian by what we know it as, but in Italy, you probably wouldn't find them," Scott said.

"All due respect, they are good products," Crispino added, "but it's not what we want to bring up here. If you get off in Naples, Milan or Rome from the airport and you go eat at a restaurant, these are the menu items you're going to find there. So, you don't need to go to Italy to find authentic food — you can get it in Gainesville. You're going to get the same kind of product, environment and quality."

For Crispino, who's been in the States since 1995, the excitement in opening Cotto lies in sharing some of his most cherished family recipes with gourmets of Gainesville.

"This part of the town — it needed something like this," he said. "We're very proud to bring (an) authentic Italian product from Italy. That's the most important thing."

The variety in Cotto's menu also extends to its price point. Guests can savor a pizza for $13-$20 depending on the ingredients, or a 20-ounce porterhouse steak in the $40s.

"There's a range of everything in between," Alexis said.

"The restaurant looks super high-end, but the price point is not," Crispino echoed.

The team behind Fork U Concepts, the Kinseys introduced their Latin-Asian brand Taqueria Tsunami to the downtown square in late 2022. Their restaurants bookend the Gainesville Renaissance development, with Onward Reserve, Kilwins and Boarding Pass Coffee in between.

Initially slated to open in December, Alexis cited the holiday season along with construction delays, supply chain issues and staffing as prolonging the eatery's opening. That, and fine-tuning every last detail of the brand-new concept.

"Any time you open a whole new brand, it's not just a new menu, a new cocktail, a new wine. It's also really creating its own identity — the aesthetics, the decor, making sure the food quality is great," Alexis said. "Developing this entire brand has definitely been a lot of work. But it'll pay off."

With Cotto, the owners hope to fill a void in the city's Italian offerings.

"We've had some many people very anxious about Italian (cuisine) coming to Gainesville. 'We need Italian — when are you opening?'" Alexis said. "There's a lot of people who walk by and peek their heads in. The excitement is definitely there. The variety that we're bringing is different (from) what's currently offered on the square — I think that's exciting in itself."

For updates, follow @cottoitalian on Instagram.