{"id":2088,"date":"2013-05-24T10:34:01","date_gmt":"2013-05-24T15:34:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.partstown.com\/blog\/?p=2088"},"modified":"2024-10-18T15:56:14","modified_gmt":"2024-10-18T20:56:14","slug":"vainisis-restaurant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.partstown.com\/about-us\/vainisis-restaurant","title":{"rendered":"Secret Ingredients – Vainisi’s restaurant (New Albany, MS)"},"content":{"rendered":"

James from Parts Town interviews Frank from Vainisi’s<\/a> restaurant.<\/p>\n

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Looking at your menu, is that your sense of humor coming through with the helipad directions and carry-out\/reservation disclaimer<\/a>?<\/strong>
\nYeah, I wrote all that.<\/p>\n

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Is that sort of humor part of the restaurant culture and experience?<\/strong>
\nI just like to keep it loose. We try to run a serious business, and we try and provide the utmost service and food quality; provide value.<\/p>\n

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But at the same time, you have to enjoy it. I\u2019m kind of snarky and sarcastic; I grew up in Chicago, so it\u2019s really different for me, being in the south and becoming accustomed to the environment. It\u2019s just my way of breaking the ice and letting people know that I\u2019m serious at work, but I like to have a good time and be approachable.<\/p>\n

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You mentioned that you\u2019re from Chicago. I know you have hot dogs on your menu\u2014Chicago style hot dogs are nowhere to be found \u2026<\/strong>
\nI\u2019m not a big fan of tomatoes \u2026 plus, we can\u2019t get sport peppers; it\u2019s a hassle to try and source stuff like that. Like giardiniera\u2014I buy two gallon buckets of giardiniera every time I go home, to bring back so I can serve it. It\u2019s really hard to get it.<\/p>\n

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As far as hot dogs go, I\u2019m a Gene and Jude\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0guy, forever and always. My wife leans towards Superdawg<\/a> a little bit, but our hot dogs\u2014there\u2019s no Chicago dog here because we can\u2019t do it right, so we just don\u2019t do it.<\/p>\n

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Let\u2019s talk about your location\u2014you\u2019re a mere 75 minute drive from Graceland<\/a>, home of Elvis.<\/strong>
\nWe live in New Albany. What it\u2019s known for, basically, is (being) the birthplace of William Faulkner<\/a>. Even though he\u2019s really known for being over in Oxford, he was born two blocks from my house . I\u2019m not going to pretend like I\u2019ve read Faulkner or even really care \u2026 that\u2019s the thing we need to say. That, and the bank made it through the Depression. There\u2019s a bunch of other stuff: it\u2019s a really great place, and the people are really cool.<\/p>\n

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Give us some history: how long ago did you open?<\/strong>
\nIn 2003, so it\u2019ll be 10 years this year.<\/p>\n

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That\u2019s a nice milestone.<\/strong>
\nYeah, we\u2019re really excited about it. Being in a small town, and being outsiders\u2014being yankees or whatever, people have embraced us, so we\u2019re glad that we\u2019re still here and still able to be doing what we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n

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\nIn ten years\u2019 time, what\u2019s been your biggest challenge?<\/strong>
\nFinding help. Finding people that understand what it\u2019s like to be in the restaurant business. \u00a0I started working in restaurants at a little place called Barbarino\u2019s, on the Northwest side of Chicago, when I was 16 years old. I\u2019m 40, and that\u2019s all I\u2019ve done is the restaurant business. It\u2019s hard to find people that really understand the kind of dedication–there are not a lot of people that just love it and do it because they love it. So that\u2019s been the hardest thing for me\u2014finding help and keeping great help. That\u2019s the biggest thing for me.<\/p>\n

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What\u2019s been your greatest success since you opened?<\/strong>
\nThe longevity\u2014you see so many restaurants come and go. I\u2019m glad to still be here. I\u2019m glad that I have the confidence that I know what I\u2019m doing to keep these things going in adversity. Just the fact that any restaurant in a smaller environment, or someone that\u2019s doing it by themselves\u2014they go into it and they\u2019re out of it in six months or a year. They really didn\u2019t understand what the deal was. I think my greatest simple accomplishment is that I\u2019m still providing jobs for people, I\u2019m still providing food for my family, I\u2019m still enjoying it. I\u2019m continuing to do it.<\/p>\n

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I guess that would be my greatest success: I\u2019m still here.<\/p>\n

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If we were to drive down to New Albany for a visit today, what should we order off your menu? What\u2019s your signature dish?<\/strong>
\nIf you\u2019re coming at night, we serve a lot of our blackened Chicken Alfredo. We really strive to serve a lot of basic, comforting, filling, satisfying meals. We\u2019re not trying to do anything too fancy; just when you come in, you know if you order this, it\u2019s going to taste the same as it did last time, and it\u2019s good, and it\u2019s comforting, and you\u2019re going to enjoy it, and you\u2019ll want to come back.<\/p>\n

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Our blackened Chicken Alfredo is one of those things where it\u2019s nothing too fancy, but we do it the right way. We make every Alfredo to order, so there\u2019s no big pot of creamy sauce lying on a stove somewhere getting dumped in with the pasta. We don\u2019t do it that way. We make everything to order, when you order. That\u2019s one of our good ones. We serve a lot of sandwiches in the afternoons, and our pizza\u2019s pretty popular, too.<\/p>\n

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Any advice for aspiring or current independent restaurateurs?<\/strong>
\nI ask (people) the question; do you understand what you\u2019re getting yourself into? You better be ready. The people around you better understand that if you\u2019re really going to make a go of this, this is going to be your new wife, your new husband, and your new girlfriend all at the same time. Once you\u2019re in here, and once you get it going, it consumes you, so you have to be able to control that. And the people around you have to understand that this is what you do, and it\u2019s going to get done–otherwise it\u2019s not going to happen, and then you\u2019re going to wind up in trouble. You really have to have that support group. My wife has been the best\u2014she\u2019s taken care of all the house things, the kid things, she still goes to work. She basically lets me come here to be successful. You really have to have a support group around you, even though you feel like you\u2019re the one doing all the work.<\/p>\n

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