Dining With Gerardo Bruno, Co-Owner of San Pietro in NYC’s Midtown Manhattan; Declared “Most Authentic Italian Restaurant Outside of Italy”

NEW YORK, NY – This past weekend I interviewed owner, co-founder and President Gerardo Bruno of San Pietro Ristorante in Midtown Manhattan, off of one the most glamorous streets in Manhattan, East 54th Street, between Madison and Fifth Avenue.

The award winning San Pietro Restaurant has been proclaimed by Italian government, media, and culinary organizations as “The best and most authentic Italian restaurant [outside of Italy].” It has also been said to have “the best Italian wine list.” While Bruno was careful what and who to mention, he did note that Gianni Versace dined there in the late 90s.

We opened the San Pietro in June 1992. The inspiration was to come to America first and then before we thought about opening, we worked for other restaurants here in the city and in 1992 we had the possibility to open San Pietro to bring real southern Italian food to New York City. We’ve been very lucky; God has been on our side…. We always bring fresh ingredients from South of Italy.

Owner, Co-Founder and President Gerardo Bruno of San Pietro Ristorante

We believe in wisdom of “Nourishing Body and Soul” derived from our Salerno ancestors from Southern Italy. We import 85% of our ingredients from provinces of Campania, Sicilia, Sardinia and Puglia, and we advocate a healthy, well-balanced diet, regular exercise, and low-stress lifestyle. The restaurant promises exceptional food, ambiance and service.

Since its opening in 1992, San Pietro restaurant has been the landmark restaurant in Manhattan, renowned for the healthy, vivacious cuisine of the Amalfi Coast in Southern Italy. With food that promotes longevity and nourishes the soul, San Pietro’s menu offers a dazzling combination of sea and pristine farmland, with great selection of exquisite food, such as sea bass, earthy treasures of eggplants, risottos, black truffles, homemade pasta, peppers, tomatoes, and unique delicacies like the treasured mozzarella di bufala. 

San Pietro’s elite corporate clientele attests on a daily basis to the warmly European values and sensibilities that San Pietro team continuously brings to its restaurant: a celebration of the simple, unadorned treasures of nature, maintaining the highest service standards possible, and treating guests like family.

Our cuisine is based more on the day to day, what’s available in the garden, what’s available at the butcher shop, what’s available at fish market…. We use olive oil, garlic oregano, basil, and extra-virgin olive oil that we bring over from a farm back in Italy you know and you can see the ingredients in the food you can see the freshness the freshness of the ingredients.

Owner, Co-Founder and President Gerardo Bruno of San Pietro Ristorante

According to the restaurants website, the menu is prepared using Extra Virgin Olive Oil produced by Gerardo’s sister, Nicolina Bruno, on their farm in the hills of Salerno, which is a city southeast of Naples, Italy.

The artwork of San Pietro’s dining room has been described as “the dining room in New York with the most atmosphere” by the New York Post. San Pietro’s newly modernized stenographic ceiling is the work of the Italian architect Dante O. Benini, with offices in Milan and Istanbul, and depicts a photograph of the sea at Sorrento’s sunset and gives the venue an entirely greater visual and chromatic intensity.

Our menu is dedicated to our brother Antonio, executive Chef and owner of an Pietro for 21 years, who sadly passed away in 2013.