Lennie Omalza| Special to Courier Journal
If you’ve been out in NuLu with me for late-night bites and drinks, we’ve gone to bar Vetti.
We probably shared a mushroom pizza while I drank an Aperol spritz, before closing out the evening with a chocolate budino and a latte. I have my go-to order at this Italian restaurant not just because I love the food — but because it’s one of the only places in the area that serves dinner, dessert, and drinks around midnight.
“We were seeing a lot of people come and pull on the door after 10 p.m., (asking to get something to eat),” said general manager and partner Hap Cohan. “We decided that we would open for co*cktails and do some small bites and pizzas for the later-night guests on weekends.”
bar Vetti, which moved from the 800 Tower City Club Apartments to the AC Hotel by Marriottat 727 E.Market St., in June 2020, is currently open daily for dinner — with a late-night weekend menu — and brunch on Saturdays and Sundays.
“Our goal is to expand the hours all around,” Cohan said. “Hopefully someday (we’ll) be open early to late … But adding a service requires quite a few more people and … (we’ve) found that no decisions are made quickly anymore, especially when it comes to things that (are controlled by) staffing … You (have) to find good people and do it the right way, (and) make sure you have the availability of products.”
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He adds that any new employees will be an addition to what he describes as an amazing team. Many of them have been around since before the pandemic shutdowns; though most of the crew was out of work for a bit, every staff member was eventually welcomed back.
“When the shutdown hit, it was obviously crazy for everyone,” said executive chef and partner Andrew McCabe. “But … we flipped to carry-out in one day … Besides myself, Hap, Lauren (Schoen) — my sous chef — and one other front-of-house employee, we called everybody else and said, ‘I have no idea what's going on. Just get on unemployment right now and we’ll bring you back as soon as possible.’”
Since then, bar Vetti has reopened for indoor dining, moved to its new location, and undergone a significant expansion.
“When we reopened here for dine-in service, we went back to our original 22 (employees), and now we're at 52 — so our business has taken off substantially,” Cohan said. “Obviously it's (partly because the) space (is bigger), but we (also) still continue to do a lot of carryout business. It's actually ramped up since the delta variant has started to rear its head and we just keep thinking it's going to get slower, and it seems to get busier.”
Though the number of customers seems to increase as the weeks go by, keeping the restaurant running smoothly has not been without its challenges, as the availability of ingredients and other supplies is constantly changing.
“I think there’s a national shortage of club soda,” Cohan said with a laugh. “We have had the hardest time (getting any). Just anything that’s in bottles and cans … Miller Light has been out of bottles for a couple of weeks. Everybody is seeing a supply chain issue.”
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McCabe adds that some of their supply challenges are problems they never thought they’d run into.
“(There are) some strange things that you wouldn't expect,” he said. “We use a lot of local farmers, and I was thinking initially (that would help us avoid shortages we wouldn’t have) experienced otherwise. But we use a local mushroom farmer —Frondosa Farms — and … one week, (they said) the bags (they use) to grow (their) mushrooms are held up in a shipping port … That's a curveball I didn't expect. (The issues go) so much further down the supply chain than you would think to anticipate.”
These unforeseen obstacles, however, are rare — and incorporating locally sourced ingredients into the menu is still a priority.
“We’re trying to (create) regional Italian dishes with locally sourced, Kentucky ingredients whenever we can,” Cohan said. “We try to support local farmers and artisans as much as we can, whenever we can … If there's a Kentucky product that will drop (into) an Italian menu (in a way) that would make sense — like a country ham instead of prosciutto, for example —we’ll use that whenever we can.”
Since the move to NuLu, the bar Vetti menu has expanded from primarily pizza, pasta, and small plates to include more entrées, such as chicken piccata and parmesan. McCabe would like to change up the offerings more often with each season but simply hasn’t had the chance to develop new dishes.
“I find that so much more of my time is spent tracking down quality chicken, or pork, or beef,” he said. “Spending time trying to find quality (ingredients) and ... doing hiring or whatever else (has) been (a) much more time-consuming process than normal … (It) kind of takes away from the creative side.”
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Hopefully, staffing and supply issues will soon subside so bar Vetti’s menu and hours can evolve. Until then, Cohan and McCabe are focused on serving the customers who have kept them afloat.
“The restaurant community as a whole has been very supportive of each other,” Cohan said. “I think something that everybody forgets is a lot of times it was chefs and people that were out of work … that were coming in to support us because they didn't want to losetheir favorite restaurants … (Being able to keep) all 50-plus of our employees … (is) all due to those guests that were loyal and kept us busy when we were (serving carry-out with just) four people, all the way up to where we are now.”
Given the evolving nature of the coronavirus pandemic, our weekly restaurant review column'sfocus will shiftfor the foreseeable future. Each week, Lennie Omalza willinterview restaurants that are fighting to adapt and survive while serving our community. Please send coverage suggestions to Lifestyle Editor Kathryn Gregory atkgregory@courier-journal.com.
bar Vetti
WHAT: This is a regional Italian restaurant with a menu that incorporates locally sourced, Kentucky ingredients and serves everything from co*cktails to small bites, pizza, desserts and more.
WHERE: 727 E. Market St.
CURRENT SERVICES: dine-in, outdoor seating, curbside, carryout, and delivery via DoorDash; 5-9 p.m. dinner Monday through Thursday; 5-10 p.m. dinner Friday and Saturday; late-night menu only 10 p.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday; 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. brunch Saturday and Sunday
CONTACT: 502-883-3331, barvetti.com
