Glowing review from tough critic helped La Casa Pasta

When La Casa Pasta opened four decades ago, owners Giuseppe and Anna Martuscelli weren't sure if the Italian restaurant in Glasgow would last a year. 

Customers were so sparse, after three months, the Martuscellis' two business partners were ready call it quits. 

The couple pooled their life savings, $20,000, and bought out their partners. But they weren't sure they made a wise decision.

On New Year's Eve, usually a busy night for restaurants, not one customer came into the eatery adjacent to the Four Seasons Shopping Center off Del. 896.

Today, the popular restaurant, about 3 miles south of the University of Delaware's campus, is getting ready to celebrate its 40th anniversary. 

The Martuscellis are hosting an open-to-the-public party on May 10 from 7 to 10 p.m. at the 120 Four Seasons Parkway eatery.

The cost per person, starting at $40 and up to $55 for 6 p.m. VIP admission, includes live music, passed hors d'oeuvres as well as carving, pasta, bread and dessert stations. Visit the La Casa Pasta Facebook page for more information.

While the restaurant's rocky beginning is well in its past, the Martuscelli's son Gianmarco Martuscelli, who now runs the day-to-day operations, surprisingly credits much of the business' turnaround to the late, legendary News Journal food critic Otto Dekom.

Dekom was often described as "the man Delawareans loved to hate."

Notoriously stingy with superlatives in the theater, music, art and restaurant reviews he wrote in the 1960s through the early 1980s, his withering remarks and pointed comments could slice deeper than a chef’s knife.

One restaurant owner, so hurt by Dekom's commentary, banned him from his business. Dekom, undeterred, returned for a second look. He dressed as a woman – Dekom was said to have been inspired by a friend's mother – and ate there unnoticed.

During a 1978 visit to La Casa Pasta, Dekom was (mostly) charmed by his meal and wrote a rare, glowing review.

"The modest little restaurant offers some of the best Italian cooking in Delaware," he said.

Dekom was a fan, in particular, of the mussels fra diavolo, which featured the shellfish in a spicy marinara sauce.

"I never have had them as good in any restaurant this side of the Pennsylvania line, and rarely on the other," he said.

Dekom being Dekom still couldn't resist a few barbed observations.

 "The decor is typically shopping-center Italian with dreadful paintings of Italian scenes on the walls. It was no enhancement to the decor that the tablecloth was badly stained with dried food." 

Yet, the Dekom stamp of approval for the food was enough. After the review appeared in the Sunday paper, the La Casa Pasta dining room filled with customers. Martuscelli said the family did more business than it ever had before.

And they haven't looked back since. 

Family photos decorate the walls of the restaurant along with pictures of local sports heroes like former Eagles head coach Dick Vermeil and the late Reggie White, the team's legendary defensive end. 

The atmosphere is as Italian as the Trevi Fountain. Frank Sinatra croons from the speakers and the aromatic smell of tomato sauce and freshly made pasta drifting through the four dining rooms can make the stomach rumble. 

The restaurant has changed greatly since Dekom's visit 40 years ago. The family spent more than $500,000 renovating the dining rooms, kitchen and adjoining Italian market after a 2010 fire closed the eatery for several months.

Long gone are some 1970s appetizers like anchovies and pimentos ($3.50) and glasses of tomato juice (75 cents). But some of the menu items, like the mussels fra diavolo, and stracciatella, or eggdrop, spinach and chicken "wedding soup," remain.

A $14.95 lunch buffet from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays through Fridays has been well-received by the community.

Gianmarco Martuscelli was 3 when his parents opened the restaurant. Now 43, he says while he grew up in La Casa Pasta, he never planned that it would be his career. 

"I use to hate the restaurant business as a kid. Now, I love it," he says.

The family's restaurant empire also has expanded. They bought the Chesapeake Inn in Chesapeake City, Maryland, 22 years ago. In November 2016, Martuscelli and wife Gilda added Klondike Kate's Restaurant & Bar, a downtown Newark landmark, to the growing Martuscelli Restaurant Group.

Maintaining a long-running restaurant is a major accomplishment in an industry that projected sales of $799 billion in 2017, according to the National Restaurant Association.

It's not easy-going. According to a study by hospitality consultants The Perry Group International, 70 percent of restaurants that make it past the first year, often close their doors in the next three to five years. But the group found 90 percent of the restaurants that are still operating past the five-year mark will stay in business for a minimum of 10 years.

Martuscelli attributes consistency to La Casa Pasta's longevity.

"The food is very consistent. If we ever get complaints, it's never about the food," he says, adding, "Italian food is comfort food. It's the go-to for a lot of people."

The restaurant has become a home-away-from-home for some patrons. Martuscelli sees customers who had birthday and confirmation parties and baby and bridal showers at the restaurant now bringing their own children. 

"Been coming here for 30-plus years. Food remains outstanding," customer Nitin Rao wrote in 2016 on the Facebook page.

La Casa Pasta was founded by Martuscelli's father, Giuseppe, who first came to the United States in 1967 from Santa Maria di Castellabate, near Salerno, Italy.

In 1973, the former Navy cook began working in Italian kitchens in Philadelphia but always wanted to open his own eatery. The dream came true when in 1978, he and his wife, Anna, opened La Casa Pasta across from Glasgow High School.

The restaurant has greatly expanded in four decades. It started out as a 2,500-square-foot pizzeria and cafe. Now, the family owns the entire shopping center.

Catering is the biggest part of the business and the flagship La Casa Pasta makes all the sauces that are served at the family's other restaurants, Klondike Kate's and the Chesapeake Inn. Giuseppe Martuscelli still goes to Italy every year to order the olive oil and tomatoes that are used in the family's eateries.

Expansion is a possibility. Gianmarco Martuscelli says he has looked at properties in Middletown and the Wilmington Riverfront, but has not yet made any decisions on new sites.

But, he says, a new restaurant would be a scaled-down version of La Casa Pasta.

The menu would likely feature brick-oven pizzas, Italian-style "tapas" and some of the flagship restaurant's staple dishes, including mussels fra diavolo that helped make La Casa Pasta a 40-year success. 

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Contact Patricia Talorico at (302) 324-2861 or ptalorico@delawareonline.com and on Twitter @pattytalorico