By Melissa Wagoner
The Curbside Kitchen in downtown Silverton recently received an Italian makeover thanks to new owners, Giulia Burato and Pietro Sangiorgi, who purchased the business from founder Holly Bell.
“I have an elderly mother in Southern California that I need to take care of,” Bell said of the impetus for the sale. “So, it’s semi-retirement, I guess. But I’m super excited about them coming in. I think they’ll do very well. It’s a niche that’ll be well received.”
Originally from Verona, Italy – where Sangiorgi was working as a certified public accountant and Burato as a medical doctor – the couple settled initially in New York but found it a less than ideal place to raise their six-year-old daughter.
“We prefer a life that’s slow for our family,” Sangiorgi confirmed.
And so the couple set their sights on Oregon, finding Silverton – and a listing for The Curbside Kitchen – largely by chance.
“We saw the picture of this location – it’s very nice,” Burato recounted. “We like that from the street people can see us cooking.”
While owning a restaurant wasn’t their original plan, cooking – especially Italian food – has long been a passion.
“In Italy we cooked for parties and family and on Christmas day,” Burato began.
“So, when we came here we said, why don’t we cook the food we love?” Sangiorgi said.
And that’s just what they plan to do by adding Italian classics, like Burato’s mother’s tiramisu, and Sicilian treasures, like sfincione, a popular pizza in Sicily, to the original Curbside Kitchen menu.
“People love our food because it’s different,” Burato said of the response they’ve received so far. “People especially love the tiramisu. We sold out immediately.”
In fact, according to Bell – who spent several days working with the couple – each of the new menu items sold out as soon as it was added, a phenomenon Sangiorgi hopes signals future success.
“We hope that people will like us,” he said.
To which Bell answered with confidence, “This town is very supportive.”
The Curbside Kitchen
201 Oak St., Silverton
Monday – Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
www.thecurbsidek.com, Facebook and Instagram
