Charleston Living Magazine Nov-Dec 2021
We end the year with a bang - festive holiday tablescapes to help set the table for entertaining, and holiday fashion for the latest trends in what to wear this season. We also showcase our top picks for dining over the holidays.
We end the year with a bang - festive holiday tablescapes to help set the table for entertaining, and holiday fashion for the latest trends in what to wear this season. We also showcase our top picks for dining over the holidays.
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to pursue her own entrepreneurial dreams<br />
and she quickly got to work transforming the<br />
facility into a place to call her own, starting<br />
with a new name.<br />
“I renamed it to Amici’s because it means<br />
‘friends’ in Italian,” French said, “and since<br />
none of my extended family lives here, I knew<br />
my friends would be with me and help me.”<br />
To feel a little bit more at home, she<br />
renovated the building’s interior to reflect the<br />
favorite Italian restaurant she frequented as a<br />
child in New York. Upon stepping through<br />
the front doors, a large part of her customer<br />
base immediately feels at home, too.<br />
“It’s old school Italian. When everyone<br />
from up North walks in, they say, ‘Oh my<br />
gosh, it’s just like New York!’” she said.<br />
That means red-and-white checkered<br />
tablecloths and the iconic sounds of Dean<br />
Martin and Frank Sinatra wooing patrons<br />
over the speakers.<br />
One thing’s certain—French and<br />
Amici’s are the real deal for those looking for<br />
the perfect dining destination with a menu,<br />
décor and ambiance reminiscent of the bootshaped<br />
Motherland.<br />
More specifically, French characterizes<br />
her menu items as “American-Italian” with<br />
many of dishes and flavors stemming from<br />
the Naples region of the Mediterranean<br />
country. Think tantalizing staples like lasagna,<br />
cheese ravioli, chicken marsala and eggplant<br />
and chicken parmesan. But it’s the “chicken<br />
Amici’s,” French said, that her son created,<br />
that’s a “huge seller.”<br />
But it’s every menu item that the kitchen<br />
staff pours their heart and soul into handmaking<br />
each day so customers receive fresh<br />
and memorable fare.<br />
“We make all our sauces homemade<br />
every day; we bread our eggplant; bread our<br />
chicken; stuff our manicotti,” French said.<br />
“We have great servers; we treat everybody<br />
like family.”<br />
In addition to a cozy atmosphere and<br />
hearty, satisfying meals, Amici’s offers its<br />
patrons cooking classes and monthly wine<br />
dinners that explore the labels and cuisine of<br />
other cultures and countries.<br />
And don’t forget about the dessert. The<br />
menu features no shortage of sweets, including<br />
limoncello cake, cannoli and French’s<br />
favorite—the tiramisu.<br />
“I make it homemade. It’s truly a labor<br />
of love; it’s like a little piece of heaven on a<br />
plate,” French said.<br />
French largely commends her head chef,<br />
Mike Mancino, with bringing the recipes to life.<br />
French has no regrets about pursuing<br />
her culinary passion and praises her family for<br />
supporting her “every step of the way.”<br />
“I wouldn’t be able to do it without my<br />
husband and my family,” she said. “My husband<br />
just watches me put in these long hours,<br />
and he’s very supportive. “I love it; I truly love<br />
what I do, but I don’t feel like it’s work.”<br />
During the pandemic, Amicis’s gained<br />
new customers as French found a unique opportunity<br />
to start showcasing her talent to the<br />
social media world through a cooking series.<br />
She routinely posted cooking videos to Facebook,<br />
and the response was overwhelming.<br />
“It just truly took off and had 10k viewers,”<br />
French said.<br />
The success of her series prompted a new<br />
project—writing a cookbook.<br />
After a year of compiling her and her<br />
family’s top recipes, she wrote a book, “My<br />
Menu of Memories,” which she describes as<br />
her greatest career achievement and a meaningful<br />
act of love.<br />
Released on Mother’s Day <strong>2021</strong>, French<br />
dedicated the publication to her mom. So far,<br />
more than 500 copies have been sold.<br />
“I feel like I’m keeping everything that<br />
they taught me alive,” she said. “I don’t want<br />
to forget anything, and I don’t want my kids<br />
to forget anything, so I felt like putting it into<br />
writing—it’s kind of like a legacy.” •<br />
Amici’s is located at 7648 Northwoods Blvd and<br />
open 4-9 p.m. Monday through Saturday. For<br />
more information, visit amicisitalianbistro.com.<br />
FOCUS ON FABULOUS CREATIVE PHOTOGRAPHY<br />
<strong>Nov</strong>ember/<strong>Dec</strong>ember <strong>2021</strong> | 99