Can it survive? That generoso cordiale, that neighborly Italian welcome that makes Chambersburg diners feel like they were entertained in a friend’s home, that orchestrated elegance that draws discerning foodies from all across the Garden State, Pennsylvania, even the Big Apple, and that dining legacy, of which Amici Milano stands as the last grand bastion.
Can it be passed from the signature rule of Jimmy Kamies to another? And can the restaurant’s unique character carry on in the hands of some new owner who is — dare we say it — not a son of Italy, but a son of Ecuador?
Well, it might, if that new owner has served a two-decade apprenticeship working his way up from busboy to head of the kitchen. If he radiates a heartfelt concern and reverence for all that Amici Milano restaurant embraces, and, if that devoted individual is Javier Moreno, the answer is a resounding “Certo!”
Kamies, 61, has owned, operated, cooked, and warmly greeted each customer at Amici Milano since he opened its doors first in Hamilton in 1992. After two wildly successful years there, Kamies, in search of a new locale, turned his eye toward the fine dining hub of Chambersburg. Since 1910 Trionfetti’s classically Italian restaurant had proudly stood on the corner of Chestnut and Roebling. It was a perfect fit. Kamies took over the business, building, and traditions, and injected his own signature dishes and personal brand of hospitality. Amici Milano had found its home.
Chef/owner Kamies also added his sophisticated northern Italian touch to the menu. Egyptian-born Kamies had studied and cooked in Milan for 11 years before coming to the U.S. Along with the recipes, he absorbed Milan’s fashion and passion. Beyond savory dishes, it is a restaurant’s duty to provide an experience of grace and family (the restaurant’s name translates as Milan friends).
“The 1990s were the real heyday of Chambersburg,” says Kamies of the recent past. “Frank Sinatra was still a regular, and so were most of the state’s legislators and governors, past and current. Ours was one of 24 Italian restaurants in the area.” Eight of them stood within a wine-bottle’s throw of Amici Milano’s front door on 600 Chestnut Avenue, where lines of hopeful diners went round the block on Saturday nights.
These restaurants flourished as a groundswell from “the ‘Burg’s” overwhelming Italian population. When John A. Roebling’s Sons Co. and its wire rope works expanded exponentially in the 1880s, job-seeking immigrants surged into New Jersey’s capital. Within 25 years Trenton grew from a handful to nearly 5,000 Italians, most of them tightly packed into Chambersburg. In 1908, journalist John Merzbacher summed up the area up by noting, “Trenton surely has Italy transplanted.” And there they held majority sway for nearly a century, bringing the best of their culture with them.
Can Amici Milano be passed from the signature rule of Jimmy Kamies to another?
For a restaurateur, such tradition holds burdens along with the obvious benefits. Only the best Italian eateries survived in Chambersburg. Amici Milano and its chefs had to perform at the absolute top of their game every night. Expectation and competition demanded it. Kamies was well aware of this and wholeheartedly met the challenge.
Today Trenton, like all cities in this nation of immigrants, is demographically shifting. Italians came, safely clustered, and now are moving on, spreading out individually towards new opportunities. Hispanics, such as Moreno and his family, increasingly cluster into Chambersburg, bringing their culture and dreams. Singly, the Italian stores and restaurants seek more receptive suburban locales, or close up shop, leaving Amici Milano as the lone citadel of the Italian culinary excellence that so many remember.
Nevertheless, whether you are one of 24 in an elite restaurant row or the last one standing, both Kamies and Moreno agree, the challenge grows no easier. After all it is an ancient maxim that running an eatery is the easiest enterprise to get into, and the easiest to go broke in. And as the U.S. Economic Census shows, four out of five new restaurants will not survive their first year.
One of the toughest tricks of the trade is food purchasing. Buy too little and you turn customers away from their preferences. Buy too many perishables and you end up literally tossing money into the garbage every night.
“Our answer,” says Kamies, “is to keep our suppliers close and constant.”
“We’ve got them coming in regularly Monday, Wednesday, and Friday,” adds Moreno. “It keeps the amount of waste very small.”
“For the customers, that also means that every fish and vegetable remains dependably fresh,” Kamies continues. Few startup bistros can command that kind of service and budget planning.
Additionally, every top chef must strike that elusive balance of popular, classical menu items, with a lightly swirling stream of surprising new dishes, plus those offerings unique to his own establishment. The Amici Milano menu proudly displays 16 kinds of veal for traditional Italian diners, with Veal Rolantina and Saltinbocca always heavy favorites of the house. Likewise, Amici Milano’s cutlets of lightly breaded Chicken Milano and Chicken Salvatori lavishly stuffed with crab meat and drenched in Champagne cream sauce has made repeat customers out of countless diners.
Beyond the expected, patrons may also venture into frog legs, French-style escargot, and tenderly done calves liver. “We’ve got specialty favorites for everyone,” says Kamies.
And then, of course, there comes the pasta. To make their mark with the discerning palates of Chambersburg, the pasta just must be noticeably better. Moreno counts off the varieties on his fingers: Rigatoni, fettuccine, pencil points, neckties, alfredo, angel hair, and on and on.
We make each fresh daily, in all the colors you can imagine.” The dashes of individual spices, the splashes of oil added or denied, the number of kneadings to the dough — each element remains part of Kamies’ signature passed on to each chef in the restaurant. Proof of this pasta lies in the immense popularity of Amici Milano’s Linguini Putanesca — a pasta dish simply enhanced with onions, black olives, mushrooms, capers, and fresh tomato.
Stocking the bar and wine cellar requires another delicate balancing for Chambersburg restaurants. Certainly, wine does not face perishability problems, and it is a true money maker — potentially one-third or more of a restaurant’s profits. Yet Trenton eateries have always welcomed an exceptionally broad range of clientele. Local factory workers and legislators arrive in a fairly even mix with out-of-towners coming from afar to dine on that special meal. “We have to keep a $3 glass of wine for the guy who’s just coming off shift, all the way up to that $650 bottle of our very finest for that senator or governor who is coming in to celebrate some special birthday or bill-passing,” says Kamies. Moreno adds that 70 percent of diners select within the $20 to $40 per bottle range.
It was in November, 2015, when the torch was passed, and Kamies decided to “step back a little” and officially sold the business to Moreno, who had become second in command. The management shift has been more of an evolving transition — similar to a trusted COO taking the reins from a veteran CEO. Kamies still holds the mortgage, which the new owner is paying off.
Though not Italian by nature, Moreno is by nurture Amici Milano’s ideal successor. Growing up in Quevedo, Ecuador, Moreno helped out in his parents’ grocery store, learning the craft of food purchasing and purveyance. Upon immigrating to the U.S., entering the service of Amici Milano seemed a logical choice. Under Kamies’ tutelage, he began busing tables, and throughout the next two decades held every position and performed every job demanded in the bustling restaurant.
Now after paying his professional dues, Moreno has made Amici Milano a family affair. His wife, Amanda, when not tending to their four-year-old Guadalupe, may be found midday serving, cleaning, and helping wherever needed around the restaurant. In new hands, the spirit and the challenges carry on.
And Kamies plans to remain active, holding court and greeting his many friends, old and new. And Amici Milano — the sole remaining Italian restaurant in a neighborhood with fewer and fewer Italians — will continue the welcome and welcoming tradition of fine Italian dining in Chambersburg. “We will change only with the desires of our clients,” says Moreno.
Amici Milano’s founder, Jimmy Kamies, right, has handed over ownership and management responsibilities to Javier Moreno, left, who has worked his way from busboy to head chef. Photo by Suzette Lucas.,
