The Italian restaurant Piacere Mio celebrates its one-year anniversary on February 13. But Chef Jose Marquez’s connection to the location at 7636 Madison in Forest Park goes back more than two decades.
Marquez worked with Chef Gaetano DiBenedetto first at La Piazza and then at Gaetano’s, which is in the same location as Piacere Mio. After Gaetano turned his restaurant into a deli during the early days of COVID-19, he decided to sell. His first call was to Marquez, who quickly took him up on the opportunity.
“I was so happy here in this area,” he said. “It was like my home. I’m so happy to come home again.”
Marquez and two partners, including Francisco Perez, who works the front of the house, wanted to bring their years of restaurant experience to a new level at their own place.
“I always had a dream about opening a restaurant. I spent my last 25 years working at Italian restaurants,” Perez said, adding that he feels this location is “more than a restaurant, more than the food. More like a family. There are a lot of good memories here.”
Marquez said seeing customers again has been a delight, “Hey, remember this kid? My God, they are already like, 20 years old now. The same customers, they still come in here.”
The food brings customers back again and again. Not surprisingly, all the pasta, bread and desserts are house made. The menu is an expression love for Italian food that transcends any one region. Hands down, the most popular appetizer is fried zucchini blossoms filled with a pecorino mousse and served with sundried tomato coulis. Carpaccio di Tonno is a favorite too: sliced seared tuna, topped with chipotle aioli, crystalized garlic, serrano pepper and soy.
Main courses include fresh fish and a variety of meats, but pastas are what Marquez loves the most. Conchiglie alla Pugliese combines shell pasta, rapini, sausage with a touch of chili flakes and pecorino cheese. Marquez feels it’s the perfect combination rapini, garlic, Italian sausage and pecorino, “You can eat this pasta every day I think.”
It doesn’t take long for him to call out another item on the menu, “I really love the wild boar ragu. It’s like over two days to marinate with a lot of spices, red wine. I really care about the quality. Better quality than quantity.”
There are seasonal specials every day. Duck braised in chianti with wild mushrooms and shaved parmesan is a current option along with halibut con antra, which is halibut with grapefruit wedges, white wine and broccolini.
Drinks get their due as well. It is a point of pride for Francisco Perez. “I enjoy wine. We have some from California, but 80% of the wines are from Italy. And we like to offer really good quality wine and pair it with food.”
“A good dish needs a good wine to pair with it, to enjoy the night. So when people ask me about recommendations for wines, I like to get involved, to go over about in details. Who’s the producer where it comes from, the region vintages.”
It’s easy to see that both Perez and Marquez are passionate about their offerings.
After dinner, you can have a glass of limoncello, a traditional Italian digestive. Chef Jose and his team make the drink in-house in a cornucopia of ever-changing flavors. Recent options have been passion fruit, pistachio, caramel, coconut and coffee.
The finishing touch is dessert. An offering that makes a cold winter night feel cozy and warm is chianti panna cotta.
“It has different spices and it’s not just chianti. It’s cloves, cinnamon. This this is one of my favorites,” Marquez said.
Banana flan with caramel sauce is another. There is a selection of cheesecakes every day. Mocha and pineapple are regular customers favorites. Tiramisu, gelato, sorbet, and crème brulée, too, make it hard to resist when the dessert menu is passed around.
In the summer, a patio out front offers al fresco dining. And a private room in back can hold up to 36 people. That room is often used for special events that are often open to customers.
“If I know a wine maker is in town, we like to bring them in. We like to pair food with the wine, and we invite customers on our email list,” Perez said.
It’s this community-building and customer-experience focus that lead Perez and Marquez, not only to try their hand as restauranteurs, but also as they brainstormed a name for their venture.
What does a chef say when you compliment a meal? “My pleasure,” is what Marquez says. He said it is a joy to have the opportunity to make food that makes customers happy.
And that’s what the name of their restaurant means. Piacere Mio is the Italian expression that means, “my pleasure.”
