Donato Scotti’s fourth Bay Area restaurant, featuring contemporary, rustic Italian cuisine and full bar program, to debut in Elmwood District in late September
BERKELEY, Calif., August 21, 2017—Donato Scotti, chef and proprietor of Donato Enoteca and CRU in Redwood City, and DESCO in Oakland, has partnered with fellow Italian chef and longtime friend Gianluca Guglielmi on his fourth restaurant concept: Donato & Co. 
Opening in Berkeley’s Elmwood retail district in late September, Donato & Co. will showcase rustic Italian cuisine with a contemporary twist, featuring house made pastas and locally sourced seafood and meats cooked over a live fire. The menu will reflect the chefs’ culinary philosophies of using fresh, simple ingredients in inventive ways, and draw upon each region of Italy with a sensibility only natives can bring. Wine, cocktails and beer will play a central role in the restaurant, with a menu that encourages exploration by including many small-production wines.
Chef Scotti grew up in a small town near Bergamo, Italy, where he studied at the Instituto Alberghiero di San Pellegrino culinary school and learned his craft in various Michelin-starred restaurants in Bergamo. He then moved to the United States at the age of 21 and held positions of increasing responsibility at such restaurants as the legendary Valentino in Los Angeles and Il Fornaio in the Bay Area. In 2004, Scotti designed and opened La Strada in Palo Alto, before establishing Donato Enoteca in Redwood City in 2009, then Desco in Old Oakland in 2013, and CRU in November 2016. He met Chef Guglielmi in 1999, beginning a longtime friendship and collaborative cooking partnership. Donato & Co. is the first of several restaurant concepts that the two expect to create together.
Chef Guglielmi grew up in Vicenza, Italy, surrounded by a family of chefs, and began working at his family’s gastronomia at the age of 13. He attended Italy’s famous culinary school, Recoaro Terme, then worked at a succession of highly regarded Michelin-starred Italian restaurants. In 1993, he opened his own wine bar and gastronomia, Il Vicolo. 
When he moved to the Bay Area in 1998, he became executive chef, food research and development, and vice president at A.G. Ferrari Foods. He returned to Italy in 2010 and opened Ristorante La Berlera in Riva del Garda where he worked side by side with his wife and son.
“Gianluca and I have been talking about doing something special together for many years. Berkeley is such a unique location, and one of the biggest focal points for the food world. When the opportunity to open a restaurant here arose, we jumped on it. We have a shared focus that goes beyond the kitchen—we enjoy the planning, the innovation and the details behind bringing Italian cuisine to the table with simple, local ingredients.”
The menu at Donato & Co. will be organized into distinct sections: Iron & Fire, featuring meats roasted on the rotisserie and over the grill; From the Fields, with a selection of salads, vegetarian and vegan dishes; Pasta & Co., with an array of house made pasta, risotto and other grains; 
and By the Sea, featuring seafood and shellfish. Each section will be inspired by the season and include dishes of all sizes that can be shared. A selection of desserts, driven by Chef Guglielmi’s passion for and deep knowledge of Italian pastries and sweets, may be accompanied by an espresso imported from Verona – and one of the most sought-after coffees in Europe – Laboratorio di Torrefazione Giamaica Caffè by Gianni Frasi. The average check at Donato & Co. will fall in the range of $20 to $25 for lunch, and $40-$45 for dinner.
Overseen by Chef Scotti, the Donato & Co. wine list at will focus on Italian imports, with a selection of French and Northern Californian producers rounding out the selection. At least 20 wines will be offered by the glass and in flights, with carafes and full bottles available as well. Cocktails are a particular passion of Chef Guglielmi, and he plans to feature Italian-inspired contemporary and classic cocktails that incorporate fresh juices and small batch spirits.
Donato & Co.’s interiors are designed by Chef Scotti and his longtime restaurant designer, Anna Klint of Iron Skirt. The warm, welcoming space features a 20-foot bar along the left wall, with seating for 120 guests in the main dining room. Red, green, copper and wood tones fill the space, and stunning photographs of Italy, under the art direction of Bay Area photographer Deborah O’Grady, grace the right wall. A vintage Vespa in the center of the room will be no doubt be a playful conversation starter.
At Donato & Co., guests will never strain to hear their dining companions, thanks to a state-of-the-art Constellation and Libra acoustic system from Berkeley’s renowned Meyer Sound. 
Along with the base acoustic design, Constellation allows restaurants to control their sonic ambiance with a suite of innovative technologies, including room microphones, advanced signal processing, and self-powered loudspeakers. Working together unobtrusively in the background these elements shape a room’s acoustics, ensuring consistently comfortable conversations, no matter the size of the table or the restaurant occupancy level. Restaurant staff can maintain the perfect buzz level with the touch of an iPad screen. Libra is a system of custom-designed acoustic wall panels that provide effective sound absorption, which is key to optimal acoustic environments. Each Libra panel, featuring O’Grady’s photography, adds an extraordinary visual element while also playing a crucial role in creating an ideal aural environment. Together, Constellation and Libra, in conjunction with the acoustic design of the space, create a multi-sensory dining experience, where conversation is heard crisply, without distractions from music, background noise, or voices from neighboring tables. This cutting-edge installation allows guests to relax and enjoy the distinctive Donato & Co. experience.
Donato & Co. will be open for lunch and dinner Tuesday through Sunday, as well as weekend brunch, when it opens in late September. The restaurant is located at 2635 Ashby Avenue in Berkeley. For additional information and updates, please visitwww.donatoandco.com.
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