When Steve Carpentieri graduated with his architecture degree in 1994 he had trouble finding a job in his chosen field. He decided to open a restaurant for a few years before attempting to return to his area of study.
Twenty-one years later, Carpentieri remains in the restaurant business as the owner of Stefano’s Italian Kitchen & Pizzeria in Friendswood.
“About a month after graduating the job market wasn’t very good, and the pay scale for architects wasn’t very good,” Carpentieri said. “So I said, ‘I’m going to open an Italian restaurant, work [there] for 10 years, make some money and then go and do something else.’ It didn’t quite work out that way.”
A Naples, Italy native, Carpentieri never trained to cook or run a restaurant, he said. The food industry novice began Stefano’s in 1994 with a simple menu before expanding over time to include pasta and other Italian dishes.
“We started out just doing pizzas and sandwiches,” he said. “We played with the recipes, used high-quality ingredients and then slowly added on [to the menu].”
Carpentieri said he prefers the technical side of operating a restaurant to running the kitchen. Making sure everything is in sync more closely matches his personality, he said.
“There’s so many different facets of [owning] a business,” Carpentieri said. “You have to make them all come together. That’s what I like doing: [having] 10 different things that have to match up perfectly.”
The long nights and hard work of being an architecture student also helped prepare him for the start of his business, Carpentieri said. He praised his employees, however, for running a smooth operation.
The key, Carpentieri said, to a successful restaurant is in the ingredients. Along with customer service, he said that is the most important factor.
“The secret for good food is starting off with good, quality ingredients,” Carpentieri said. “You can never serve a bad meal if you start out with good, quality ingredients.”
Stefano’s lease expires in July 2016, and Carpentieri plans to move the restaurant to his two-acre property down South Friendswood Drive, across from the public library. In addition to his Italian cuisine, Carpentieri intends to have a variety of foods, including barbecue and tacos, offered by different vendors located on the same lot.
“The fun of [the experience] is planning it and seeing it all come together,” Carpentieri said.
Stefano’s Italian Kitchen & Pizzeria 106 S. Friendswood Drive, Friendswood 281-992-2233 www.stefanositalian.com Hours: Mon.-Fri. 3 p.m.-10 p.m., Sat.-Sun. 11 a.m.-10 p.m.
