bar Vetti: Regional Italian Rooted in Its Region
Executive Chef and Co-Owner Andy McCabe
It’s 1am on October 16, 2017 and bar Vetti is set to open its doors for the first time in 16 hours. There’s one important thing left to do: write the wine list descriptions.
Proprietor Chef Ryan Rogers, Executive Chef Andrew Arvin McCabe and Beverage Director Emily Albert are pouring over sales sheets and pouring themselves sips of the final selections curated for the menu. Running on adrenaline, exhaustion and verging on delirium, they delivered what has to be one of the most relatable, unpretentious wine lists we’ve ever seen.
The Tenuta Maccan Pinot Grigio was given flavor notes of “peach cupcakes, peach pits and unicorn tears.” The Dirty & Rowdy Familiar Blanc was described as “funky and fun, like trying to roll down a grassy hill while drinking a top shelf margarita.”
And that’s really all you need to know about bar Vetti in one quick flash. Fancy Pizza. Fresh Pasta. Dope Wine. A group of people that take hospitality more seriously than they take themselves. Fine dining with a wink, a nod, and a hot pink neon sign.
CHEF ANDREW ARVIN MCCABE
Even though he’s an immensely accomplished executive chef, Chef Andrew Arvin McCabe is still just Andy from Indiana in his heart of hearts.
His resume includes Rye, Proof on Main, Harvest and Bistro Le Relais in Louisville, as well as Blackbird and L2O in Chicago. His playlist includes Converge, Pig Destroyer and Whitney Houston. Whatever stereotypes you may hold about an executive chef in your mind, Andy ain’t it.
Baked Rigatoni with Meatballs.
When the restaurant says that it’s “regional Italian rooted in its region;” it means that Andy has meticulously learned the fine art of scratch made pizza and pasta. It means that he’s going to go for the expensive imported olive oil and balsamic vinegar because it’s crucial to the experience of the dish. It also means when you see a pork tenderloin parmesan sandwich, the pork is going to be the size of a hubcap; dwarfing the buttered bun situated in its center like a deserted island because that’s how they do it in Indiana. And, above all else, it means that whatever he’s seeing at the Douglass Loop Farmers Market might end up on the menu next week.
bar Vetti Sous Chef Lauren Schoen.
Andy is also the kind of chef that wants all the cooks in his kitchen to eclipse him. He holds no ego in food, or in life, and his staff feels so empowered to explore their whims that they may be the most powerful advocates for the restaurant right now.
Take, for example, current Sous Chef Lauren Schoen. At first glance, she looks like a pixie. Small in stature with layered, short hair and an undeniably youthful face; she’s almost the archetype of who gets overlooked in a kitchen. But, Lauren is also a chef through and through. She never stops pushing herself. She has brilliant ideas and makes beautiful dishes. When Lauren was chosen as a 2020 mentee for The LEE Intiative’s Women Chefs Program? It was a moment of celebration for all of us who have had the privilege of watching her grow in Andy’s kitchen.
This has been an undeniably hard year for restaurants. Before the pandemic, bar Vetti was already planning a move to larger space with more seating for their loyal, local following. They still made it happen and with the addition of Hap Cohan as general manager, they’re doing well. But, there is no such thing as comfortable in the world of razor-thin profit margins in restaurants. We tell you these stories in case you need a nice dinner and want to know where your money is going. For bar Vetti in particular, when you’re there, you’re family.
