VIDEO: Take a tour of Ferro Restaurant in Idyllwild, which opened in July.
Frank Ferro’s long held passion and curiosity with food has propelled him to his newest culinary adventure in Idyllwild, Ferro Restaurant.
“I call my style of cooking, Modern Italian, it’s basically food I want to eat and play with,” he says.
The word Ferro translated in Italian mean Irons. It also happens to be the last name of Ferro Restaurant owner, Frank Ferro. His latest culinary endeavor is known simply as, “Ferro Style Italian Elevated Cuisine!”
Ferro Restaurant is a blending of old and new, and loyal followers will find the friendly social club vibe they have grown accustom to when Ferro ran his first Idyllwild restaurant, Café Aroma, from 2001-2014.
“With Cafe Aroma, I started it to fill a need in the community, a social club, living room vibe with good Italian food,” he says. “It became almost like a Town Hall. I decided it was time to raise the bar, and begin developing a specific Idyllwild cuisine, something new and exciting, things we couldn’t have achieved in the past, but are doing now.”
(From left) Frank Ferro and Executive Chef Geoff Brown have a long history together (former partners at Café Aroma), creating simple, authentic, and tasteful modern Italian cuisine.
Ferro Restaurant features an outdoor patio equipped with a wood burning pizza oven and bar, and its indoor bar serves an Italian style tapas menu in the early evenings. A full Italian dinner menu is served nightly and daily.
Ferro’s love affair with food began at a young age, growing up in Northern California surrounded by Italians. His passion for food came from his father’s side of the family.
Queso Pimientos and Baloney Pizza: Like the classic pasta dish, Queso and Pimientos (peppers) are transferred onto handmade honey wheat dough with added southern style baloney (aka, mortadella – Italian baloney).
“Everything I know comes from my Dad,” he says. “I am a self-taught passionate guy who likes to eat.”
An unexpected surprise is the restaurant’s beer driven menu with its own spin on traditional brew-pub classics. Ferro plans to open his own micro-brewing venture, Idyllwild Brewing Company and Brew Pub (behind the Strawberry Creek Mall) in 2016. The joint venture between himself and his brew master, Don Put, will offer beers produced on site.
Ferro Restaurant, 25840 Cedar St., Idyllwild, 951-659-0700; www.ferrorestaurant.com
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