Unfortunately, I don’t speak Italian, yet. I do, however, speak Vitale’s! It all began rather innocently when I was invited to a grand opening ceremony complete with ribbon cutting at the original Vitale’s in Michigan on Leonard Street decades ago. I scored an invite as I was smitten with the builder’s son. It was a family affair from Vreeland, the Netherlands, that put this Italian staple on the map.
I still recall the delicious homemade sauce sandwiched lovingly between the wide ribbon noodles with cheeses and meats, oh my. It was more than a decade later when a tiny little storefront bearing the same name appeared at the beginning of a strip mall on the west side of Ada Drive set deeply in the parking lot. My very first, virgin trip to Vitales of Ada went something like this…
I drove up to this one-horse pizza joint on a sunny day and ordered a large ham and mushroom pie. With great anticipation, I returned a half an hour later to collect my new prize. My doctor husband was also from “over there,” at least in his mind, as he hailed from New Jersey and was not a shoe-in as a customer for “local Italian” in these parts. In fact, he was not a pushover for just any pizza. I watched with delight how he examined and finally gave way to enjoying every single bite.
Hip, hip, hooray. I can now have a day without cooking or cleaning! I had to ring the victory bell, so I called the tiny pizza joint to sing their praises: “Thank you so much for opening your store here in Ada. The pizza was delicious. It had panache! I’m your new best customer, and I’ll tell everybody!” The pregnant pause on the other line didn’t ring true until another, decidedly more American voice picked up the phone and said these words, “What was wrong with the pizza?” Aha, we have something in common. He doesn’t speak a lick of English. Twins!
Don’t let those humble beginnings fool you. Word spread like wildfire. Soon the owners, Joe and Angela Polizzi, were in dire need of a larger space to accommodate like minds. They took their sacred family recipes from the Old Country, the help, the new additions, and toted the entire shooting match across the same parking lot. The new joint was like a shopping mall in comparison, with the addition of seating to include in-house dining, oh, and a bar. That’s a road well-traveled for another time.
The Cheers of Ada was born! Just change the names. To protect the innocent, that’s me! And like all good things—and horse barns that get sold out from underneath me—Vitale’s and all their storefront neighbors in the same buildings were sold. They had to move. Again. This time, not their choice.
And move they did, at the peak of Ada as you enter the little enclave from Fulton Street which welcomes highway travelers to Ada. I have to admit I wasn’t the first one to fall in love. I don’t like change. Sue me. Little by little, after several visits with different groups of friends and family, I found my happy place once again.
The chef makes me joyful as he goes above the oven and through the window to create specials that delight the senses, some of which are not, alas, Italian. Squid Lobster done “Bit’s Way,” a reminder of my favorite lobster dish served in Grand Cayman at Chef Tell’s restaurant, called “Lobster Done Brian’s Way.”
Easy to remember as I look over at Bit’s dad, Jim Bacon, my brother Brian’s friend. It’s starting to seem like it’s all in the family. And family is everything. Little Bit is a fitting name only by heritage, as he stands a towering 6’4” with tight curls over his cherubic cheeks. He is a miracle in and out of the kitchen, as he survived a several-month recovery following a tragic accident. I take nothing for granted and delight when I see him moving about with ease.
His special talents are God-given. The dishes serve to entertain and nurture while generally just hitting the spot. I also am a fan of their submarine sandwiches. Plural. And when I am feeling nostalgic, I want that old-time feeling—you will notice the wide layers of sauce, cheeses, and meats they call lasagna. They just do it right! Big Jim, Little Bit, friends, and lobster are calling me home.
