It’s quite a switch from rocket scientist to pizza joint operator, but Joseph Akal seems to have pulled the transition off successfully, with the help of his wife Anna, who, fortunately, had two generations of experience in the hospitality industry as a hotel executive.
The couple earlier this year bought Soprano’s Pizza & Mediterranean Grill, located in the Publix strip mall in Palm Bay on the other side of I-95, about 20 minutes from Sebastian via Valkaria Road.
Sebastian already has a few Italian and pizza restaurants, but Soprano’s is quickly becoming another good option for reasonably-priced and hearty Italian and Mediterranean fare. Joe and Anna have ambitious plans to open at least five more restaurants in the area, all with the Soprano’s name (and probably with the inevitable pictures of the cast of the popular HBO series on the walls), but each with a slightly different theme.
Joe had been laid off from his job with the Cisco technology company as NASA funding for space programs was cut, and the family was on its way to Seattle for another position in the aeronautics industry when, Anna recalls, Joe called her out of the blue one day and announced: “I bought the restaurant!”
Although she was shocked at first, Anna says she was actually overjoyed because she had grown to love the area of the Space and Treasure Coasts and she didn’t want to move. And she also warmed quickly to the restaurant business, which is all about making people feel at home, just like her previous career as a hotel executive in central Pennsylvania and elsewhere.
She has obviously been able to inspire her staff to do the same, because on a recent Saturday evening, we were greeted warmly by Sylvia, a well-informed waitress who offered all possible help with the menu and the drink list without being pushy.
The storefront next door to the Publix doesn’t look like much, but the inside was much nicer than we expected – dark woods, ceramic tile floors, granite table tops and walls decorated with the look of a French town.
Sylvia helped me select an extra-strong (10 percent alcohol) and hoppy Swamp Fox craft beer at $6.95 from the Florida Brewing microbrewery in nearby Melbourne. Christine, once she had decided on her main dish, decided she wanted a light red wine and chose a glass of Italian Arancio pinot noir at $7.50, which she found smooth, mellow and delicious. House wines are also available for $4.75 a glass.
While most of the menu offers typical Italian fare, the restaurant, to do honor to the “Mediterranean Grill” part of its name, also offers limited Spanish and Greek selections, and since I am partial to paella, I ordered the Paella Andalucia for $18.95. While the rice was not saffron-flavored, it came with generous portions of good-size shrimp, clams, calamari, mussels, and salmon in a butter sauce of green peppers, onions and garlic.
Christine had the Veal Saltimbocca ($17.95), which consisted of two “melt-in-your-mouth” tender cutlets of veal, topped with prosciutto and fresh mozzarella cheese in a wild-mushroom demi-glace. It came with a side of pasta and she could have had it with the saltimbocca sauce, but she chose to try the marinara sauce, which turned out to be just as she likes it – light and chunky, sprinkled with grated parmesan cheese and parsley.
Both entrees came with either soup or salad. Christine’s salad was fresh and crisp while my Manhattan clam chowder – the red version – was a large bowl of flavorful broth with clams and chunks of potatoes.
The best accompaniment may have been the garlic knots – fresh hot bread shaped into rolls with a zesty garlic, olive oil and cheese topping that well coated each delicious piece. It was one of the most garlicky things I ever tasted and Christine can’t wait to try to recreate these at home.
Some other tempting dishes included the Greek chicken souvlaki, and for lunch a salad with chicken, spinach and gorgonzola. Hot and cold sandwiches, calzones, and other pasta dishes – and, of course, pizza; gigantic kinds of pizzas – were also on the menu.
We had deliberately skipped appetizers to leave room for something sweet for dessert, which in retrospect was a wise choice. I had the chocolate panache, an extremely creamy and rich dessert with layers of chocolate cake, chocolate mousse and chocolate ganache – yep, chocolate overload, but well worth it, while Christine ordered the house tiramisu, a light, layered confection of sponge cake and a mascarpone filling, with coffee flavoring. The presentation of both desserts ($5.95 each) was extremely appetizing.
Our dinner for two, including drinks and dessert came to under $70 before tax and tip.
A mix of Italian and American tunes – classical, opera, old standards from both countries as well as more modern tunes – played softly in the background, not obtrusively, at just the right volume to be heard.
Large portions saw many people – including us – taking home dinner or lunch for the next day, and that especially went for the gigantic pizzas. At a booth next to ours, a cute young family with a little boy and a girl carried out a huge box after having their fill from two fabulous-looking pies at the table.
One reason Joe and Anna bought the restaurant was that they were impressed with the margherita pizza and they continue to use the previous owner’s recipe. It’s one of the biggest pizzas around and we’re planning to stop by shortly to sample it.
The restaurant consists of two sections and remodeling plans are in the works – as well as plans to open earlier in the day and have a coffee café – possible outdoors, which will be a nice addition.
The space industry may have lost a rocket scientist, but fans of pizza and other Italian food have gained another interesting option in the area.
