With the snip of a ribbon Monday night Mark Eaton went from retired All-Star center for the Utah Jazz to all-star Utah restaurateur.
Tuscany, Eaton's new upscale Holladay eatery at 6200 South and 2800 East, won't open to the public until Wednesday night, but Gov. Mike Leavitt and other VIP guests got a preview peek at - and taste of - cuisine from the northern Tuscany region of Italy, for which the restaurant is named.Although Tuscany is new, the building in which it is housed goes back a long way. Bill Murdoch, a lifelong resident of the area, recalls that in the 1930s the facility, constructed of river rock from nearby Big Cottonwood Creek, was called Dyer's Inn. The Dyer family served sandwiches, hamburgers and soft drinks on two or three inside tables and some outside picnic benches.
"I remember it even had a hitching post out front where you could tie up your horse," said Murdoch.
After Dyer's went out of business, the building was eventually remodeled and operated as The Heather for many years. More recently it has been a wedding reception center and was again closed before it was taken over by Eaton and his partners.
That group is Chianti L.C., a Utah-based limited liability company composed of Aaron Ferer, Paul Castagna, Gary Francis and Eaton. Ferer, the operating partner of Tuscany, and Castagna operate four restaurants in the San Mateo area of northern California. Francis is a Park City-based architect who, with Ferer, created the design, renovation and expansion of the facility on its 1.75-acre site which includes parking for 80 cars.
"We've doubled the size of the building to 11,000 square feet and hired 75 full-time employees who we've been training the past three weeks," said Kim Ryberg, general manager. She and her husband, Rich, recently moved to Utah from California to run Tuscany. Several other management personnel and chefs have relocated here from the company's California operations.
Ryberg said Tuscany will initially open for dinner seven nights a week. Beginning in spring, it will begin serving lunch as well. The facility will also do banquets, weddings and other private functions.
Although Tuscany is "fine dining," it is "affordable," said Ryberg, noting that dinners range from $9 to $15. Reservations are recommended but not necessary.
Menu items include such northern Italian specialties as linguini with clams, four-cheese ravioli, veal medallions, hearth-bread pizza and Tuscany's "signature" dish, sauteed calamari steak.
Tuscany will do all of its own baking and will open an on-site bakery and coffee cafe this summer.
Susan Fairgrieve is executive chef and Ricardo is the Cordon Bleu-trained sous chef.
Eaton will be at the restaurant several nights a week to greet customers.