Business Notebook: Gabriel's Food + Wine aims to keep it small for an authentic experience

Gabriel's Food + Wine at 127 N. Main St. in Cape Girardeau is authentic. That's a claim many restaurants make, but owner Gabriele Ruggieri is from Palermo, Italy, and his family is from Sicily. He drew from that experience to build not just a restaurant, but an experience, with head chef Jeremy Bourland and team.

Ruggieri moved to the United States in 2011, he said, and was working in a restaurant at Epcot at Walt Disney World in Florida when he met Casey Bauer, now Ruggieri, on vacation with her sister and friends.

"My wife was born and raised in Cape Girardeau," Ruggieri said, which is how they ended up here.

This isn't the first restaurant venture for Ruggieri and Bourland. Together, they worked at Ciao under then-owner Su Hill when the restaurant was first open, they said, and after they worked together, they each moved on to other opportunities and kept in touch.

Jeremy Bourland, left, and Gabriele Ruggieri show the wine rack Friday at Gabriel's Food + Wine, 127 N. Main St. in Cape Girardeau.Fred Lynch

It's fortunate they did, Ruggieri said, because when the space at 127 N. Main St. came open, he saw a chance to live his passion and his dream.

Ruggieri said he had always wanted to have an intimate restaurant with the kitchen in the center, to create a connection among the chef, the food, the guest.

Of course, the decor helps, he acknowledged.

Dark wood and warm-toned walls, a chandelier and oil paintings, hint at old-world Italy, while the marble countertops were sourced locally from Liley Monument Works in Marble Hill, Missouri.

Jeremy Bourland, left, and Gabriele Ruggieri stand at the bar Friday at Gabriel's Food + Wine, 127 N. Main St. in Cape Girardeau.Fred Lynch

With only 11 tables, the place is small but to make it bigger would be to lose the feel he wants, Ruggieri said.

"I want to be genuine, as much as I can," he said.

To that end, Bourland said, they import as many ingredients as they can from small suppliers in Italy. Grains from family-owned farms, organic pasta, olive oil from a single producer -- it all contributes to the overall experience, Bourland said.

He then gestured to the wall of products he referred to as "the pantry," where many items from the menu can be bought by customers, "to give them a sense of ownership with the experience," Bourland said.

"The details make all the difference," Ruggieri said, nodding agreement.

Jeremy Bourland, left, and Gabriele Ruggieri pose for a photo in the dining area Friday at Gabriel's Food + Wine, 127 N. Main St. in Cape Girardeau.Fred Lynch

Park West welcomes new occupants

Two long-term leases at Park West Shopping Center at 201 S. Mount Auburn Road in Cape Girardeau have been completed, said Tom Kelsey, commercial broker with Lorimont Place Ltd., who handled the lease transaction for both spaces.

The shopping center, home to Brown's Shoe Fit Co., now will house Sound Advice, a hearing consultant business. The company has affiliated with the Audiology Center to open the new operation, Kelsey said.

Next door to Sound Advice in the shopping center will be The Orthopedic Center of St. Louis, in the former Coldwater Creek location. The office will have an in-house MRI machine, Kelsey said.

Both locations are expected to be in operation within about 90 days.

Chaffee Nursing Center earns U.S. News Best Nursing Home designation

U.S. News & World Report designated Chaffee Nursing Center in Chaffee, Missouri, a Best Nursing Home for 2017-2018, according to a recent news release.

U.S. News evaluated more than 15,000 homes nationwide, in every state and nearly 100 major metropolitan areas. This year, only about 15 percent of the nursing homes evaluated earned the designation of a U.S. News Best Nursing Home.

Chaffee Nursing Center is an Americare skilled nursing community and one of seven that earned the U.S. News Best Nursing Home designation.

Americare is based in Sikeston, Missouri, and operates 23 skilled nursing and post-acute communities and 110 assisted living and memory-care assisted living residences throughout Missouri, Illinois, Kansas, Mississippi and Tennessee, according to the release.

Saint Francis program honored

HMR Weight Management Solutions is one of U.S. News & World Report's best fast weight loss diets of 2018, based on rankings released in early January, according to a news release from Saint Francis Medical Center.

The Healthy Weigh, Saint Francis' medically supervised weight-loss program, incorporates diet solutions from HMR, the release stated.

Saint Francis has offered the HMR program for six years to community members in Southeast Missouri, and to date, participants have lost more than 18,000 pounds, according to the release.

Ribbon cuttings

Quality Jewelry Buy Weight will hold a ribbon cutting at 1 p.m. Thursday at 125 S. Broadview St., Suite 12, in Cape Girardeau.

Business licenses

Ashley Uchtman applied for a license to operate Dawn of Life Alternative Health, a health consulting and supplement sales business, at 2131 William St. in Cape Girardeau. The opening date was listed as July 1, 2017.

Gary Joe Dunn applied for a license to operate Dunn Storage Solutions LLC, a retail business dealing in sheds, tiny houses, carports, cabins and outdoor furniture, at 621 S. Kingshighway in Cape Girardeau. The opening date is listed as Feb. 1.

mniederkorn@semissourian.com

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