Sylvia Buchholz and Seymoure Freed walked into Trilussa La Trattoria in search of a special dish to celebrate Buchholz’s birthday: paella.
After searching the menu, they were disappointed to find that the European seafood dish was not offered. But no sooner had they expressed their dismay than two specially made dishes appeared in front of them, courtesy of head chef Giovanni Caligari.“We were awfully impressed,” Buchholz said. “A restaurant like this is such a pleasure.”Caligari opened Trilussa in 1994, but becoming a cook and owner of a gourmet restaurant on 401 West Franklin Street was not always his first priority.“I’m a master’s degree in architecture in Rome,” said Caligari, who was born in Florence, Italy. “I tried in New York to do engineering, but it didn’t work for me.”Caligari began a construction company in New York that specialized in marble and stone, but it, too, was unsuccessful.Things started looking up when a friend offered Caligari some open space in a building he bought. “He says, ‘Why don’t you open some Italian restaurant?’” Caligari said. “He pushed me, and I start from there.” Caligari began opening restaurants throughout New York City in Greenwich Village, Brooklyn and Manhattan, and Queens.“I become cook because I have no choice,” Caligari said. “I learn from losing.”After moving to Chapel Hill and getting married, Caligari opened Trilussa La Trattoria, a restaurant serving Southern Italian-style food.Caligari works as the head chef and cooks everything himself, with occasional helpers to cut the salad.“I like to cook because I am the owner and the chef, and I can do whatever I want,” he said. “I want to cook in my style. The chef makes the restaurant.”Morgan Ezzell, a UNC junior, has worked for Caligari for three weeks and said the chef keeps the staff on their toes.“It’s crazy but fun,” she said. “He cooks dinner for us every night. My favorite dish is his Caesar salad.”Caligari said he uses only fresh ingredients, including vegetables and herbs he grows in his own garden.“Everything is fresh so you can feel the fresh,” he said. “I also deal only with Italian products.”Caligari said that through Trilussa, he hopes to bring the cooking style of his home country to his Chapel Hill patrons.“Every year I do Christmas for Dean Smith’s family and birthday,” he said. “I make special like in Italy. Like a homemade homemade.”Caligari said he prepares 40 different items for the dinners and it takes two days to prep.“I do it for him,” he said.Now cooking has become a significant part of Caligari’s life, one that he shares with his wife, his two sons who work at Trilussa and his customers.“People see Italian restaurant as pizza and pasta,” he said. “It’s not just that.“I want it to be homemade cooking for the family.”But Caligari said he won’t bother with commercializing the small restaurant.“I don’t make advertising,” he said, “because you come, you like, or you don’t come back.”Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu
