Mixing Old World recipes with a local bounty, chef Camillo Tortola finds authenticity in every dish he makes.

By Kristin Boyd

Camillo Tortola, his eyes heavy from working late the previous night, sinks into a vinyl seat against the back wall. It’s 12:15 p.m. on a cool Saturday in late August, and except for a chef and two waiters whispering near the kitchen, he’s the only one inside his restaurant, Camillo’s Café and Catering.

But that’s not a bad sign, he says, pointing to the dozen or so customers sitting underneath a canopy of umbrellas, just outside the restaurant’s sliding glass doors. “People love to eat on the patio,” he says. “It’s always packed. The restaurant is very popular because of the free parking.”

Free parking might entice people to visit this out-of-the-way, New York-style trattoria located in the Princeton Shopping Center, but the authentic Italian cuisine keeps them coming back for seconds. “Every dinner is cooked by me,” says Tortola, a chef who opened Camillo’s Café in November 2005. “I offer simple food cooked to perfection. We offer Italian foods that you can’t find in other Italian restaurants around here.”

The restaurant is generating so much buzz that customers travel from the tri-state area to watch Tortola cook lamb chops, ratatouille and Mediterranean striped bass in the restaurant’s open kitchen. “You can see me cooking,” he says, “so you basically come and eat in my kitchen.”

With dark wood flooring, golden dangle-drop lighting and vintage Italian advertisements lining the soft-yellow walls, Camillo’s is comfortable and inviting. Each table is set with a vase of blooming flowers and a bottle of S.Pellegrino water, and hearty meals, including chicken caprese, tuna carpaccio and eggplant rollatini, typically start between $12 to $15.

“I don’t like infusions; I like authentic,” Tortola says. “My food is simple, but it’s not simple to cook. It’s the creativity and the combination of flavors. To me, a dish develops over time.”

Several of his Old World recipes started in his grandmother’s kitchen in Miranda, Italy, the mountainside village where he was raised. He loved watching her cook, particularly on Sundays, when, after attending Mass, she’d make gnocchi, a type of potato dumpling.

 Those childhood cooking lessons inspired him to become a chef. He studied at the Roccaraso Italian Cooking School and trained as a sommelier in Italy; he also worked in London and Glasgow, Scotland, before opening Camillo’s Ristorante Italiano in Helensburgh, Scotland, and La Bella Italia in Edinburgh, Scotland.

He brought his passion for epicurean dining to the United States in 1999, when he began working in New York, a dream come true. However, he was ultimately drawn to Princeton’s culture and central location. “The city is beautiful; it’s one of my favorite places,” says Tortola, who lives in town with his wife, Roberta Pughe, and stepsons, Zach, 16, and Josh, 15.

His love for the Princeton area is evident at Camillo’s, a BYOB restaurant that features a full wine list from Hopewell Valley Vineyards, seafood from Nassau Street Seafood Company and desserts from The Bent Spoon and Thomas Sweet Ice Cream.

Heading home to rest before his night shift, Tortola pauses in the doorway, where, in one glance, he sees his grandmother’s wedding picture and customers enjoying mouthfuls of pasta. Both settings, he says, illustrate the Virginia Woolf quote he adopted as a motto and later printed on his menus: “One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.”

Camillo’s Café and Catering is located in the Princeton Shopping Center, 301 North Harrison Street in Princeton. The restaurant is open from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Monday through Saturday, for lunch; 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday, for dinner. Reservations recommended. BYOB. 609-252-0608; www.camilloscafe.net.