Portal to Italian villa opens on Wilmington Market Street

The Vibe Check: Villa Italiana Mediterranean Cuisine
Concept: Italian American pastas, pizzas and seafood in a recreation of a villa
Average entrée price (Lunch): $19, ranging from $17 to $22
Average entrée price (Dinner): $27, ranging from $19 to $36
Kids’ Menu? Yes
Alcohol? Yes
Vegetarian-Friendly? Yes
Gluten-Friendly? Yes
Live music? Yes
Hours: Sun 11 a.m. – 9 p.m., Mon closed, Tues 9 a.m. – 2 p.m., 4-9 p.m., Wed-Thurs 11 a.m. – 2 p.m., 4-9 p.m., Fri 11 a.m. – 2 p.m., 4-11 p.m., Sat 11 a.m. – 11 p.m.
Website: www.instagram.com/villa_italiana_delaware/ 

Kelvin Molina, a veteran of the restaurant industry for almost three decades, first became a chef when he was 17 years old. He was working with his uncle in a restaurant in Bordentown, New Jersey, when the head chef quit unexpectedly. Molina’s uncle tossed him an apron and gave him a simple instruction: It’s your job now. 

“I said, ‘Wait a minute. I cannot do this. It’s too much for me,’” Kelvin recalled. “He said, ‘Well, one day you have to learn.’”

Now that he’s a father of four children and owner of four restaurants, Kelvin’s the one passing the torch — or perhaps tossing the apron — to the younger generation. 

Last month, Kelvin and his wife, Janine Hernandez, along with their business partners Johnny and Karen Orejuela, the owners of Three Amigos Mexican Grill, opened Villa Italiana Mediterranean Cuisine on lower Market Street in Wilmington. 

Steering day-to-day operations is Kelvin’s 24-year-old son, Diego, who during a Wednesday shift could be seen rushing around the restaurant, building a website one moment, mixing drinks the next.

Diego is exhausted but excited to be general manager. 

“(My parents) are always checking on me to see how I’m doing, because they know that it’s a lot of pressure. But they also know I can handle it,” he said. “I like to be in very high-stress situations. That is what gets me going every day.”

For Diego, who graduated from The Pennsylvania State University with a bachelor’s degree in hospitality management, creating a welcoming atmosphere is the most important aspect of operating a restaurant. 

That’s accomplished in part by the friendly service, but the decor plays an important role, too.

Villa Italiana is a portal to exactly that — an Italian villa. The host stand is made from a 1970s Vespa. Plants, stone fountains and faux balconies are affixed to the walls, which are adorned with murals of the countryside painted by co-owner Karen Orejuela. 

The Molinas — who have mixed Italian, Spanish, Mexican and French heritage — bought several statement pieces while on trips to Italy, including over-120-year-old panes of stained glass from a church that was undergoing renovations.

The extreme attention to detail is one reason the restaurant has taken over two years to open. The other culprits were a longer-than-anticipated permitting process and the desire to feel fully prepared before opening the doors to the public, according to Diego and Kelvin.

The Molina family lives in Pennsylvania and operates three other Italian restaurants: Papa Mark’s Pizza & Grill in Honey Brook, Venice Pizza & Pasta in Coatesville and Napoli’s Pizza & Subs in Parkesburg. Villa Italiana is their first attempt at an upscale dining experience.

Villa Italiana offers pasta, pizza, salads, soups and seafood. Head chef Aguinaldo Santos, who has both Italian and Brazilian heritage, described Villa Italiana’s food as more Italian American than traditional Italian.

The menu includes dishes like prosciutto-wrapped shrimp, lobster ravioli, fried artichokes and margherita pizza. Kelvin recommends the penne vodka served with prosciutto and Roma tomatoes.

“The vodka sauce is my favorite,” he said. “You have to know how to make it right, because if you put a lot of tomato, it comes in too red or too sour. It has to be the perfect match (of) cream and red sauce. I like that combination.”

The Molinas have expanded their operation into Wilmington because of the growth the city has experienced. They picked lower Market Street so they would be positioned near apartment complexes, and so they would have less competition than if they were further up the street.

Kelvin has been charmed by the atmosphere of downtown Wilmington.

“I like small cities … (and) I love Spain and Italy because the people are very warm. You walk and talk to the people, and people talk to you. It’s not like New York,” he said.  

The Molinas hope they can match Wilmington’s warmth with friendly service and a beautiful dining environment.

“We wanted (Villa Italiana) to be an experience, (between) what you’re seeing, what you’re feeling, what you’re eating, how you’re being treated by the staff — because Italian hospitality is an experience,” Diego said.