Nuova Italia Breathes New Life Into a Historic St. Charles Building

Five years ago, Antionio Lettire left his home in Italy's Calabria region and came to the United States as a chef ready to achieve his dream of owning a restaurant in America.

In 2007, Nuova Italia opened their doors in Addison, becoming an instant hit with locals. Lettire's success with his first location inspired him, and he begin looking for a venue to give Nuova Italia a second home. 

"I chose St. Charles to open my second restaurant because I fell in love with the building," said Lettire. "It was beautiful inside, but there was a lot of clean up to do."

Lettire and his staff spent two months cleaning up the interior of the restaurant, which up until recently had been . 

The building's history has seen long periods of standing empty and a string of restaurants that came and went.

Built in 1851, the old limestone church was the original site of . By 1912 the congregation had a new place of worship and the building sat empty for almost 60 years. In 1970, it was sold and converted into a restaurant, which has changed names more than half a dozen times, according to a search of Internet records and reviews of previous restaurants. New owners modernized the decor in 2003.

Onesti's Supper Club  after a little more than two years. 

"It was a mess," said employee David Gandolfo, who has been with Lettire since 2007. "The restaurant had only been closed for a few weeks, but it looked like it hadn't been used in years."

Despite this, they hadn't made many changes to the decor, said Gandolfo.

Lettire also is the head chef, and spends most of his time cooking and working the front of the house.

"You'll always find Antonio up front with the customers," said Gandolfo."He's usually making sure everyone is enjoying their meals and having a good time." 

Nuova Italia's menu is made up of many of Lettire's homemade Italian specialities, which tend to focus on fish and other seafood.

"The whole baked fish is our house specialty," said Gandolfo. "We take a whole fish and bake it in the brick oven in the center of the dining room. It's a customer favorite."

Lettire also makes a homemade ravioli and imports his buffalo mozzarella directly from Italy, as well as a traditional Italian cheese from the Bari province, called Burrota. 

"The people of St. Charles have been very welcoming," said Lettire. "They're very nice people." He said he has been pleased with his business since opening three weeks ago, especially without doing any advertising.  

Nuova Italia Ristorante is at 18 N. 4th St. It is open for lunch and dinner 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday, 3 to 11 p.m. Saturday and 2 to 9 p.m. Sunday.

Reservations can be made by calling the restaurant at 630-584-4040. Banquet and party facilities also are available.