WHAT WE DO
A wise woman once wrote that cooking should come from the heart and like love, it should be entered into with abandon or not at all.
That woman is Tina Carrella, mom to our owner Ed, who affectionately wrote it in the forward of a cookbook she created for her children (the line’s origins are from a 1956 Vogue article by journalist Harriet Van Home). It’s the philosophy behind Vita Bella, where delicious food is created with enthusiasm, delight and, of course, love. Our concept is pretty simple and so is our food; we source fresh ingredients to create classic Italian dishes that nourish and feed the soul. We hope there’s a little bit of something here for everybody.
Naples, Italy is known for their street food culture, where chefs prepare all sorts of foodie delights right in front of customers, who then take it away with them to enjoy as they stroll through the meandering alleyways of the city. Our large traditional Italian pizza oven is likely the first thing our guests notice when they arrive. Custom made for Vita Bella, the oven bakes made-to-order pizzas in 90 seconds. Called “Pizza a Portafoglio” in Naples, it’s folded over into wallets and can easily be enjoyed either at one of our front tables, sitting at the bar while you sip a glass of Italian vino, or as a takeaway to be enjoyed while strolling down Main Street. We also freshly prepare other kinds of street foods including savory fritto misto (served in our version of a cuoppo napoletano, which is a cone-shaped funnel made from paper), sweet puff pastries filled with ricotta called sfogliatella, and panzerottis, that are delectable potato croquettes.
With Tina’s inspiration guiding what we do every day, you will always feel the love in our cooking. We invite you to learn from her too. Be sure to check out our News page for cooking classes hosted by Tina at Vita Bella.
WHO WE ARE
The story of Vita Bella has its roots in both Naples, Italy and Frankfort, Michigan.
The Italian part harkens back all the way to the late 1960s when Tina and Angelo Carrella emigrated from Naples, Italy to Chicago. The couple didn’t have a battered box of recipes that they brought over with them, though growing up they both watched their nonnas (grandmothers) create large family meals that required days of preparation; but they did have their American entrepreneurial dreams of owning their own business. They settled on the idea of opening up an authentic Neapolitan pizzeria in their adopted hometown of Chicago, so Angelo, who worked with his brother at a tool and die business, would work for free every weekend for a year in a local Italian trattoria to learn the trade.
He and Tina—who soon had three kids, with Vita Bella’s now owner Ed being the youngest—eventually opened up their dream (a second one followed five years later), and they learned the restaurant business from the bottom up. Once, Angelo got the idea to put freshly-made pasta on the menu, so he bought 25lbs of ricotta and gave it to Tina, who spent countless hours figuring out how to create savory ravioli with all that cheese. Angelo would then add the recipe into his royal blue notebook, which though now tattered, Ed still uses to recreate recipes for Vita Bella.
Even as a little kid, Ed was cooking in the eateries and learned how to make Napoli specialities, pastas, and mozzarella from Tina. Those childhood memories—of delectable smells bubbling in the kitchen and warm familial bonds with his parents and siblings as they rushed around serving heaping plates of spaghetti to hungry loyal customers—connected Ed to the notion that good food wasn’t just about filling the stomach, but about time well spent with family and friends. Food was a way to show both generosity and love. That, in large part, led him to spend his career working in the restaurant business. He has opened up and managed a number of well-known restaurants and eateries in New York, Chicago, Las Vegas, Milwaukee, and Houston. To say Ed knows his figurative and literal way around a kitchen is an understatement.
He met his future wife, Megan Royle, in 2003, and she brought him up to Frankfort for the first time that summer. Megan, whose effusive chortle was well-known across the Congregational Summer Assembly where she spent every summer, was a third-generation Crystal Lake resident and she not only introduced Ed to some of her favorite Benzie County haunts, but also to her many lifelong friends.
One of them was Tim Potter. He also came from a long line of Crystal Lake summer residents. His mother Patsy Smolik Potter Beck instilled in him a deep love and connection to Frankfort, which included his fondness for golfing and boating. Tim also was a fan of spending evenings with his wife, Jen, their family, and friends exploring the culinary offerings of Northern Michigan. They wouldn’t blink an eye to drive an hour or more for a meal, oftentimes with a 10pm dinner reservation. Ed and Tim hit it off over their shared love of food, boating, and sharing quality time with family and friends. They also both loved a good bottle of wine, and over the course of their friendship, Ed told Tim of his desire to one day open up an Italian concept restaurant in Frankfort. Tim was interested in getting onboard as a business partner as he always thought Benzie County needed some good Italian. So the two friends came up with the inspired idea to open Vita Bella, a place with deep connections to both Naples and Frankfort. They both fervently believe the Italian motto “Chi mangia bene vive bene.” – He who eats well lives well. So come join us, and let us show you how we cook up love.