Sunday dinner is making a big comeback at local restaurants.
At least three local eateries have begun to offer not just Sunday dinner, but also family-style dining, to help bring back that traditional feel of gathering and lingering around the table.
Raphael Vaccaro, owner of Vaccaro’s Trattoria in Bath Township, said a number of factors went into his decision to start opening on Sundays for dinner.
The choices of where to dine on Sunday were limited, with many independently owned restaurants closed, leaving only chain eateries for families who want to eat out. The creative push for Vaccaro came from a new oven that allows him to create not only wood-fired pizzas but also a variety of meats he can roast at temperatures that approach 800 degrees.
There also was the desire to re-create, in some way, the joy of sitting around his parents’ Sunday dinner table. Vaccaro’s father, a longtime Akron pizza shop operator, died last year, and Vaccaro has named his new wood-fired pizza after him, Pizza by Frank Vaccaro.
There were practical reasons, too. Vaccaro said his lunch trade has lagged for several years, and he decided to stop serving lunch as of the first of the year. Opening on Sunday for dinner was the trade-off. His new dinner menu, called Roast, begins serving Sunday from 5 to 9 p.m.
For $16.95 per person, the dinner is served family-style with a menu that changes weekly. He’ll offer a variety of roasted meats — beef, lamb, even fish — along with a selection of salads and accompaniments.
“The whole goal is to bring more flavor to the table. Roast on Sundays is my way of accentuating flavor through high-temperature cooking. ... It’s the next level of good,” Vaccaro said.
The West Point Market’s Beside the Point Cafe is offering similar communal dining, also beginning Sunday from 11 a.m to 4 p.m.
Market co-owner Larry Uhl said the meals were inspired by the type of dining he enjoyed in Savannah, Ga., over the past several years while his daughter was attending school there.
West Point is calling its dinners Mrs. Vernon’s Table, and Uhl said the focus is on “the conversation and fun that happens around the table with good food as a means to it all.”
The cafe will be set up for tables of 10, so be prepared to sit with strangers if your party is smaller. Uhl said he is hoping that aspect makes the meal more enjoyable, “like inviting a mixed group of guests to your own home for Sunday afternoon dinner.”
“We’ll be serving platters all around the table from our kitchen with about a dozen classic comfort foods, from rice muffins to meatloaf,” he said. The dishes will all be made from scratch with a homespun feel.
Uhl said he hopes the dinners become popular, taking diners back to a simpler time, “away from the demands of keeping up with your Facebook page and Twitter tweets; a Sunday gathering place with an enjoyable conversation around the table.”
West Point is offering Mrs. Vernon’s Table on nine dates this year, March 25, May 13, June 17, July 1, Sept. 2, Oct. 14, Nov. 4 and Dec. 16. The dinner is $20 per person, which includes tip. For kids, dinner is $1 per year of age, up to age 10.
In Cuyahoga Falls, chef Louis Prpich has begun offering family-style dining at his Sugo Modern Italian Bistro,
When he opened a year ago, Prpich had talked about his intention to be open on Sundays for family-style dining, but said he waited until the restaurant was more established before going ahead with his plan.
Sunday will mark the third week that Sugo has been open on Sunday, serving from noon to 8 p.m. While he offers an abbreviated version of his regular menu, Prpich said the focus is on his four-course Italian dinners served family-style.
The meal includes choice of salad, pasta (Alfredo, marinara or bolognese) and meat (chicken cacciatore, meatballs or braciola ), with tiramisu for dessert.
At $14 for adults and $7 for children under age 12, Prpich said, the meal is an affordable choice for a family of four. Prpich said because Sugo doesn’t attract a lot of children for dining during the week and weekend, the family-style dinners give it a more kid-friendly feel than other days.
Prpich said while many are still dining at home on Sunday, it is one day of the week when families are eating out together. “Sunday is a day when I’ll take my kids out to eat,” Prpich said, “But we end up going to chains because there’s not much out there open on Sundays with any kind of quality.”
Vaccaro’s Trattoria, 1000 Ghent Road, Bath Township 330-666-6158.
West Point Market, 1711 W. Market St., Akron, 330-864-2151 ext. 137, or email reservations@westpointmarket.com.
Sugo Italian Bistro, 2485 State Road, Cuyahoga Falls, 234-678-7153.
Lisa Abraham can be reached at 330-996-3737 or at labraham@thebeaconjournal.com.
