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Food, wine and family Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Gina and Vinny DiCostanzo have opened Vinny�s Italian Kitchen in the Larson Creek Center in southeast Medford By Bill Varble Italian food is in Vinny DiCostanzo�s blood. The pictures on the wall at Vinny�s Italian Kitchen in Medford testify to that. In one, Vinny�s dad, also Vinny, is pictured in the kitchen of Pensione DiFrancescina, a hotel owned by the DiCostanzo family on Ischia, an island off the coast of Italy near Naples. Family members own Italian restaurants in several cities stateside, as well. So opening Vinny�s Italian Kitchen in April in the Larson Creek (Albertson�s) Center on North Phoenix Road was a natural. DiCostanzo and his wife, Gina, opened the doors April 20. Name: Vinny�s Italian Kitchen. Address: 970 N. Phoenix Rd., No. 104, Medford. Phone: 618-8669. Owners: Vinny and Gina DiCostanzo. Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Friday, 4-9 p.m. Saturdays. Products: Italian dinners, sandwiches, pizza. Dine in or take out. Catering. The menu seems to nod to the associations folks have around eating and family. "Food, wine and family," it proclaims. Italian music plays softly, maybe a little Sinatra here and there. "We want a nice family atmosphere," says DiCostanzo, 27. "We want it to be an extension of people�s home kitchen. "Some of these recipes have been in my family for generations." Sauce Alla Vinny, for example, is made from Roma tomatoes, garlic, wine, basil, onions and spices. Just don�t expect DiCostanzo to say which spices. Fra Diavolo is made from fresh plum tomatoes and hot spices. Carbonara combines bacon, eggs, cream and cheese. Pasta goes beyond spaghetti and linguine to penne, tortellini, gnocchi and beyond. House specials include eggplant parmigiana, chicken scarpariello and baked ziti. Even the pizza has a real Italian slant. Choose from margherita (mozzarella cheese, tomato sauce), Neapolitan (tomato sauce, garlic, oregano, basil and olive oil) , bianca (white pizza) or other pies. "A lot of stuff goes into the sauce," DiCostanzo says. "There�s a lot in it. It�s made by hand. A lot of stuff has to be crushed." Vinny handles the cooking, and Gina takes care of the register, guests, pretty much everything else. Vinny�s has entered the competitive catering field. "We�ve been doing a couple a week," he says. The DiCostanzos came to the Rogue Valley from New York six years ago, and Vinny drove a UPS truck until the couple opened their restaurant. They�d lived 40 minutes from downtown Manhattan, and he�d worked in the business with relatives there. "I wanted to raise my family someplace nicer," he says. The couple have sons ages 4 and 7. Most pasta dishes are $8.95 with salad and bread. House specials are $8.95 and $9.95 with spaghetti, salad and bread. Pizzas run $8 to $18, Italian sandwiches $5. Beer and wine are served. DiCostanzo says you probably won�t confuse Vinny�s with a chain. "I�m not a business plan person," he says. "I know what I�m doing. I was born and raised in this business. I just want to carry it on. I�m not looking to be a big corporation." He says the hardest part of the business is the long hours. The best is that family tradition of Italian food. "They say if you love it you never work a day," he says. "I truly enjoy the business." Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA