The Small Business Spotlight: Di Campli's Italian Ristorante
In this "Small Business Spotlight," presented by American Bank, Austin Meek of Waco Business News highlights Massimo Di Campli of Di Campli’s Italian Ristorante.
The Di Campli’s marquee proudly emphasizes its 2020 founding, something that will be remembered as a badge of honor.
Massimo Di Campli and show host Austin Meek inside the restaurant’s wine cellar.
"Massimo Di Campli. I am the owner of Di Campli’s Italian Ristorante and I am also the General Manager so I’m running the entire restaurant operations."
Five years ago, Massimo Di Campli was enjoying his seventh year as Wine Director and General Manager of an restaurant in the Cayman Islands. Prior to that, he'd worked in kitchens throughout Europe and in Dubai. Little did he know that one beer on the beach after work would change his life forever - because that's when he met Kristen from Waco.
"She was visiting with her family and happened to meet down at the beach. We had a beer together and from there now it’s been five years that we’ve been married. We have two kids, one on the way in January 2021, so that's why I'm here.”
He'd been dreaming of his own restaurant for years and the growth of Waco encouraged Massimo to make it a reality. Now, Di Campli's provides Wacoans with a new take on Italian cuisine.
“An authentic Italian dish:” a staff member prepares saltimbocca.
“We use fresh ingredients. We are a scratch kitchen. All the food has been made and cooked from scratch. It's made with a lot of passion and love using recipes that my Executive Chef and Sous Chef presented to me and we worked together to have an authentic Italian dish.”
Massimo is from a region in Italy called Abruzzo. Its motto is "Forte e gentile," or "Strong and Kind." Massimo embodies that mantra, which is one reason he was excited about moving to a city he'd never visited. He'd heard Waco felt like home.
“Like there [in Abruzzo], people are really friendly, welcoming, warm to you. And I was expecting that and definitely after I moved here it’s been beautiful because people are even more kind than I thought. People are being so nice, even before opening the restaurant, and definitely after opening the restaurant in the middle of pandemic.”
Ahh, the dreaded P-word. There's simply no way to talk about business or life in 2020 without it. But Massimo wears the scarlet P like a badge of honor - to the point that the Di Campli's marquee sign, that will hopefully welcome customers for years, proudly states "Established in 2020."
“We know the community here is pretty passionate on supporting local and family-owned businesses. Maybe the first couple of weeks of the pandemic, yes, I was scared. I’m not going to lie. But then I’ve seen a lot of support coming from the community and we were like, ‘You know, we’re just going to go ahead and do our things.’”
Rigatoni Bolognese, a lunch favorite
Someday the pandemic will be a distant memory. But no one is waiting around - Massimo's staff will continue serving with excellence as long as customers walk through the door.
“We would love to operate under normal circumstances where we can smile at our guests, where we can thank our guests, shake hands. Now we are not able to do so but pretty much sure that our guests will feel the love that we try to share."
The Small Business Spotlight is presented by American Bank with three locations in town including an expanded branch at Franklin and 4th.
This "Small Business Spotlight,” co-produced by Waco Business News and KWBU, first aired on Friday, September 18, 2020, in Episode 90 of Downtown Depot on 103.3 KWBU-FM Waco.