Angie Rito and Scott Tacinelli
Don Angie and Quality Italian | New York
OCTOBER 2019
Angie Rito spent her childhood roving around her grandfather’s Italian bakery in Cleveland. After she began her career in front of house roles, Rito moved to New York City and became a captain at Park Avenue Autumn/Winter/Spring/Summer. There she met her husband, Scott Tacinelli, who had recently been promoted to sous chef. Not long before, Tacinelli had pivoted from a successful career as an advertising sales rep to enroll at the French Culinary Institute, following a passion for cooking inspired by his Italian-American family traditions. Rito followed her passion for food into the kitchen, too, working in various restaurants around the city and quickly rising from line cook to sous chef.
In 2011, Tacinelli became chef de cuisine of modern steakhouse Quality Meats. Rito, meanwhile, worked at Torrisi Italian Specialities in its early days with Mario Carbone, Rich Torrisi, and Eli Kulp. When it came time for the Quality Branded restaurant group to open their next project, Quality Italian, they tapped Tacinelli and Rito to join forces and run the kitchen. Now partners in the restaurant, they helped launch a Denver outpost in 2017.
In 2016, Rito and Tacinelli gained notoriety for a 19-seat speakeasy restaurant they ran together in the East Village called dinnertable. And in 2017 as part of Quality Branded, they launched Italian-American destination Don Angie, where they blend New York City inspiration—think halal carts, Chinatown, and more—with red sauce spirit. The restaurant received a two-star review from The New York Times in May 2018.
