L’Orcio Turns 15

When Chef Francesco D’Amuri and Alison DeRenzi opened their restaurant L’Orcio on State Street 15 years ago, the winter months made them wonder what they had done moving away from Florence, Italy.

“It was a long winter,” he recalled Tuesday at the now 15-year-old L’Orcio restaurant. ​“It was cold — not like today. It snowed pretty much every weekend. I thought, coming from Italy, ​‘Where are we?’

“Then the spring came and the summer, and then I was like, ​‘OK, I see it.’”

Fifteen years later, the couple marked their first decade and a half in business Tuesday with a celebration that drew city officials like Mayor Toni Harp as well as friends, family and State Street neighbors whom D’Amuri and DeRenzi said they could have never made it without.

“As all of you know there are a lot of moving parts in a restaurant, and there are a lot of things to get done and overcome. And those are not things that any one person can do by themselves or even with the best partner you can,” DeRenzi said. ​“It still takes a lot of people. Without the community around us, there is no way that we would still be here.”

DeRenzi said the Italian fine-dining restaurant most certainly would not have thrived if not for its employees, a number of whom have been with them for as long as a decade. She also shouted out her customers, some who have been coming once a week since L’Orcio opened in February 2003.

Mayor Toni Harp said it is important to recognize and strengthen local businesses because of the ​“unique cultural opportunities that comprise the foundation of New Haven.” Harp noted that L’Orcio calls the historic Thomas Kelly House its home. Built in 1889, the house is one of the city’s few remaining Queen Anne Victorian style residences.

“And I’ve got to say,” she said, ​“I’ve had an experience with this place, and the food here is great and you are really wonderful to your customers.”

City Deputy Economic Development Director Steve Fontana noted that L’Orcio has the distinction of being voted one of the most romantic locations in New Haven. It has been featured in a food documentary about the city.

“You’ve become an institution,” he said.

D’Amuri said that in its 15 years, L’Orcio has seen the economy at its height, at its low, then on the rebound. The restaurant has been able to weather economic storms as much as winter storms.

“Things are getting better little by little,” he said. ​“There is a lot going on in New Haven. Things are changing for the best, and I see it every day in the neighborhood. We see a lot of new people coming — a lot of kids — and that always to me is the best sign of a city that is growing and flourishing.”