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Y! MyWebRestaurant Review
Palermo's Restaurant
Palermo's owner has a world of experience in Italian cuisine
Thursday, January 10, 2008
KETTERING — Mefail Demnika — "Meef" to his Dayton-area friends — spent eight years learning the ins and outs of Italian cuisine in an Italian restaurant — in Germany.
A native of Kosovo, Demnika left home at the tender age of 14 and got a job cooking Italian food at Toscana in Freiburg, Germany. He spent eight years there, working his way up to manager. Then, he came to America, settling in Dayton.
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Tagalini Bolognese at Palermo's Restaurant on South Dixie.Palermo's Restaurant
- WHERE: 2667 S. Dixie Drive, Kettering [Map]
- HOURS: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, 11 a.m. to midnight Thursday through Saturday, closed Sunday.
- COST: Lunch, $4.99-$5.99; dinner, $8.95-$14.99.
- DISHES TO TRY: Italian Sausage Sandwich ($4.99), Ziti Bolognese ($12.95), 16-inch Deluxe Pizza ($14.99).
- MORE INFO: (937) 299-8888.
- MORE: Reader ratings, complete profile
More information
Demnika was co-owner of La Pergola restaurant on East Dorothy Lane for five years, but returned to Europe last year for a brief time to take care of his mother. Now, he has his own place: Palermo's Restaurant on South Dixie Drive in Kettering, which opened earlier this year in the storefront formerly occupied by Picadilly Circus Pizza and Subs.
And he's still using the culinary skills he started learning as a teenager. Taking a break from making the pizza dough for his excellent pizzas, the 34-year-old Demnika said he does virtually all of the cooking at Palermo's, with an occasional day off to help care for his 4-year-old son and 1-monthold daughter.
There's a lot to like at Palermo, starting with the pizzas, with a crust that is crisp and just the right thickness to provide an appealing crunch. Fresh garlic is an ingredient of his deluxe pizza ($14.99 for a 16-inch), and the lovely garlic aromas arrive at the table about two seconds before the pizza does. The White Pizza — topped with olive oil, spinach, fresh tomatoes, garlic, red onion and mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses — is an excellent rendition. You can ask for Feta cheese instead of mozzarella to kick up the flavor a notch.
Demnika makes his own Bolognese sauce and features it on the menu with spaghetti, gnocchi, tagalini or ziti. It's rich, creamy and intensely flavored — and Demnika can tell you why.
"We cook it overnight, very slowly, in a wine-and-tomato sauce, with three different meats: Italian sausage, prosciutto and ground chuck," the restaurant owner said. And just before serving, he adds a touch of half-and-half to give it the creamy consistency.
Lunch stars include the Italian Sausage sandwich ($4.99) with sliced sausage nestled in a crispy toasted bun with onions and tomato sauce, topped with melted cheese.
On busy nights, the kitchen and servers can be a bit overwhelmed, but you'll find plenty of ways to make the wait bearable: A full bar is available, and the prices of wines here are refreshingly — if not astonishingly — low. More than half of the 17 selections are sold for $12 a bottle or $3.95 a glass, including Lindemans Bin 65 Chardonnay, Beringer Pinot Grigio and Jacob's Creek Shiraz-Cabernet.
