Filippo Frattaroli and Filmark Hospitality Group’s Ristorante Lucia serves up authentic Italian.
Visit Boston’s historic North End and you’ll be hard-pressed to miss Ristorante Lucia, a neighborhood fixture on Hanover Street since the eatery first opened in 1977. It is owned and operated by Filippo Frattaroli and Filmark Hospitality Group; the group also runs Ristorante Lucia of Winchester Center, which has been a well-known restaurant in the town since first opening in the mid-1980s.
Frattaroli emigrated to Boston from the Abruzzo region of Italy in 1970 and made the decision to emphasize authenticity and quality of cuisine when opening Lucia “When I opened Lucia I was just 23, it was a huge financial risk for me,” says Frattaroli. “Before long, my parents, brothers, and sisters came to worked for me, so I felt pressure to make sure we succeeded in this business and in this country. I knew that success would take working seven days a week and serving quality, honest food like we grew up with in Abruzzo. Nearly forty years later, some things never change.” Drawing inspiration from central Italy, both Lucia locations take great care in presenting food reflective of the region. Frattaroli makes frequent trips back to Sulmona, Italy, and his mission to serve genuine Italian dishes is one taken so seriously by the Frattaroli family that they recently started commissioning and importing cheese from Italian cheesemaker Marcelli Formaggi from the mountains of Abruzzo directly to their restaurants.
The restaurants are named after Frattaroli’s mother, Lucia, and for this family the restaurant business is very much a family affair. Filippo’s wife, Anna, has long been involved in all of their restaurants and also handles many behind-the-scenes business needs. Their four children, Philip, Daniella, Jessica, and Mark, all grew up working in Lucia’s. The couple’s oldest son, Philip, opened his own restaurant, Ducali Pizzeria & Bar, found in the North End on Causeway Street, in 2009, and he also owns the soon-to-open gastropub Cunard Tavern in the Jeffries Point neighborhood of East Boston. Set to open in early 2017, Cunard Tavern will occupy the very same space that Philip’s own grandfather worked out of as a cabinetmaker for over half a century.
While food (and, OK, some really good wine) is the core element of all their restaurants, the family emphasizes that their ties to the communities they are located in cannot be overstated. In the North End, the family and their businesses have become integral pieces of the neighborhood; most recently the Frattarolis organized a fundraiser to benefit victims of the earthquake that hit central Italy this summer. In Winchester, you’d have difficulty finding someone not familiar with Ristorante Lucia or Filippo and Anna, who spent many years raising their four children in the town.
Maybe it is in the DNA, as extended family members are the proprietors behind other familiar Boston area restaurants, but one thing is for sure: The Frattaroli family is doing something right. Lucia in the North End will be celebrating its 40th anniversary next year, and their Winchester location has passed the 30-year mark and continues to attract a steady crowd, especially since expansive renovations were unveiled earlier this year. Noting a need to keep up with customer dining preferences, Frattaroli cites the redesigned bar with additional seating and new café windows that let in the sights and sounds of downtown Winchester.
“There’s nobody who knows more about Italian food than my father,” says Frattaroli, and while their restaurants always strive to remain current and make note of diner preferences, such as gluten-free and other dietary accommodations, the family’s commitment to authentic Italian food and giving back to the communities of which they are a part will always remain a core tenet.