Nittolo’s: Pizzeria, fine dining, and now an exclusive club as well

By Ross Boissoneau

Sun contributor

Eric Nittolo is continually upping the ante. Not satisfied with a trendy pizzeria, he added a fine dining option to his Lake Leelanau establishment—though to be fair, that was always the plan.

Nittolo’s Pizza and Nittolo’s Seafood and Social quickly became hits. But he had another idea up his sleeve. He added Nittolo’s Powerhouse Speakeasy to the mix, and the members-only jazz club has quickly established itself as another success.

“I printed 100 (membership) cards,” said Nittolo. To date there are only a few remaining.

Members pay $1,000 annually (businesses $1,500), and each member can bring up to six guests. The menu varies, as does the music, though the latter is all based around a jazz club aesthetic, with musicians coming from across the state and elsewhere. More than just fine dining, Nittolo wanted the Powerhouse Speakeasy (named for its forerunner, the Powerhouse Tavern) to be an experience. To that end, he enlisted the aid of his father John, a booking agent for years in the Detroit area who has numerous contacts.

The first weekend the Powerhouse Speakeasy brought in Laura Rain and the Caesars, a soul/jazz/R&B band from Detroit. “She’s like (a combination of) Anita Baker and Diana Ross. She opened up the club,” said Nittolo. It was so well received Nittolo plans to bring the group back.

The cozy stage has already welcomed numerous musicians: Tom Kaufman and Laurie Sears, a singer from Northport, a blues guitarist from Chicago. Recently it hosted Traverse City vocalist Doc Probes and a trio with pianist David Chown, Rick Kiehle on acoustic bass and Alex Wyant on percussion. The group performed music by the likes of Sinatra and Dean Martin, which Probes said went over particularly well with the crowd. “We had a great time,” said Probes. “The room resonates, it’s a small stage. Club members can be up close.”

Chown said he and the rest of the band enjoyed themselves, and judging from their response the patrons did the same. “I think he’s got a winner. It’s a great concept,” he said.

Not only do members get an intimate club performance with their dinner, they’re welcome to sit and stay as long as they want. Club members also get precedence for seating. Nittolo said the restaurant became so busy there would be lengthy wait times. Now, for members, that’s not a problem. “Now they walk up and show their card. They love it.”

He said the idea came to him based on what he saw while growing up in New Jersey near Philadelphia. “What’s not here that I took for granted?” he asked himself. He said the area’s vineyards offer one kind of ambience—“You can sit at a winery and listen to a guitarist. I’d do it.”—but there was a larger club dining experience that was missing.

The concept has been enthusiastically received. “People told me, ‘Eric, we needed this.’ They keep coming back.

“We’re in the luxury business. We sell luxury items,” Nittolo continued, noting that eating out is a want, not a necessity. “If you can’t afford it, you don’t go out.”

Nittolo’s culinary experience is both broad and deep. He came to the industry after earning a degree in—wait for it—analytic chemistry. He discovered he had a talent for flavor profiling while working for Graceland Fruit, before being recruited by Kroger and working in its fluid milk division. It was after that when he first took his talent to the masses in this area via the specialty food company Carp River Trading Company. He produced a variety of salsas, finishing sauces, mustards, grill sauces and toppings until closing the establishment in 2005 when the company’s growth outran its financial sustainability.

Nittolo interviewed for another industry position, but when his interviewer asked him if there was a nearby culinary school, Nittolo saw another avenue. He signed up for the Great Lakes Culinary Institute in Traverse City, and while working there landed a job at the Boathouse restaurant on Old Mission Peninsula. When Executive Chef Randy Chamberlain left to start his restaurant Blu in Glen Arbor, Nittolo moved up the ladder, becoming executive chef at the Boathouse while in his second year at the culinary institute.

He eventually moved on to a restaurant at Rocketts Landing in Richmond, Va. Then the Midland Country Club, Toledo Club, Cambria Suites, and Lochenheath Golf Club.

Still, he longed for something more personal. That’s what ultimately led him to Lake Leelanau. The building that had served the area for years as the Powerhouse Tavern before transitioning to the high-end Bella Fortuna had sat vacant since the deaths of Bella Fortuna owners and visionaries Jane Fortune and Robert Hesse.

Nittolo saw the opportunity, but reached out to friends for confirmation. “Is Lake Leelanau viable?” he asked them. “I wasn’t concerned about the food, but all I used Lake Leelanau for was as a pass through.”

After being persuaded that his concept—make that concepts—were indeed viable, he moved ahead. And he’s ecstatic he did. “What I’ve learned over the year (since opening) is this is an amazing community. There’s been great support from the locals. We opened seven days (a week) since February. That’s been the unbelievable home run,” he said. “Now it’s exploding.”

Another attraction for Nittolo was the size of the restaurant. “I have a large facility. I can seat a lot of people—over 250 with both inside and outside.”

Of course, no restaurant, no matter the concept, will be successful without good food. The menus at the two sides offer a compelling positive argument there. Appetizers include oysters (raw or Rockefeller), calamari and mussels, crabcakes, caviar and escargot. Entrees include pastas, rack of lamb, Chilean sea bass, Wagyu steaks, and classic Italian entrees like veal piccata and chicken marsala. Dessert? How about cannoli or spumoni ice cream—from Moomers, of course.

More interested in pizza? Try the Spanish, with serrano ham, fig jam, Manchego cheese, saffron honey, almond brittle and goat cheese. Napoli includes Taleggio cheese and three kinds of salami: Soppressata, Toscano and Calabrese.

And don’t forget the pièce de résistance: Torta di Nittolo. His namesake pizza pie includes Mozzarella Di Latte Di Bufala, cherry tomatoes, prosciutto di Parma, arugula, pomodorino, extra virgin olive oil, and locatelli Romano, what he calls the “best combination of imported authentic Italian ingredients possible.” Those are just three of the more than a dozen specialty pies.

He’s ecstatic about the reception so far, using the word “blessed” numerous times. “We did great last year, and we’re doing double and triple that business (this year).”

What’s next? Nittolo’s fertile mind is already conjuring images of expanding the speakeasy nightclub program to other locales, including Traverse City. “I could sell 400 (memberships) in Traverse City. But do I have enough Eric Nittolo? And am I ready to take on another avenue?”

He leaves those questions unanswered, at least for now. “We’ll see. There are things I’d love to do that we just can’t here.”

So, unless – or until – Nittolo expands the operation, he’s perfectly happy welcoming guests to Lake Leelanau. Ultimately, it’s that welcoming spirit combined with the food and music that makes for an atmosphere unlike any other. “Every person, every customer is part of our family,” Nittolo said.

Nittolo’s is located at 104 Main Street. Call 231-994-2400 or visit NittolosPizza.com.