NORTHERN ITALIAN INSPIRED CUISINE
Dining at Il Carpaccio on Hilton Head Island can feel like stepping into a storied and elegant past, an experience that goes beyond the menu. Starting with the antipasti and continuing through the zuppe, pasta, carne or pesce, each dish here is made from scratch with the freshest available ingredients.
Specializing in northern Italian-inspired cuisine and pizza cooked in an open, hard-wood burning oven imported from Modena, Italy, this favorite Hilton Head Island restaurant was founded in 2001 by Maurizio Colla and Eddie Campos.
Colla was the former maître d’ and Campos the chef at the iconic but now-closed Neno’s Italian restaurant. Colla, who visits many tables personally, relishes describing the offerings to patrons — It’s “like reciting poetry or reading an excerpt from a good book. Service, he says, “is not about delivering plates but providing a culinary experience.”
Back in the kitchen, Campos works his magic from antipasti to zuppe, creating myriad pasta options, from fettucine Alfredo to spaghetti pirate with chopped shrimp, clams and mussels, hearty meat and fish dishes including veal, calamari and shrimp, and, of course, countless variations on Il Carpaccio’s savory pizza.
Use the warm bread that the attentive wait staff keeps filling in the basket at your table to soak up the delicious sauces. Portions are generous, special accommodations are cheerfully made for allergies.
Serving lunch 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and dinner starting at 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday; closed Sunday.
200A Museum Street, Hilton Head Island. Call 843-342- 9949 for reservations. ilcarpaccioofhiltonhead.com.
