Whether you’re a wine connoisseur or just a fan of a relaxing tipple at the end of the day, Williamsport has what you’re thirsting for.

Both DiSalvo’s Restaurant and Le Jeune Chef have been recognized in Wine Spectator’s 2019 Restaurant Awards, which highlights restaurants around the world that offer the best wine selections. In total, 3,800 dining destinations from all 50 states and 79 countries were honored at three different levels. The city establishments have been recognized annually by Spectator for many consecutive years, a testament to their consistent excellence.

The Award of Excellence recognizes restaurants whose wine lists feature a well-chosen assortment of quality producers, according a news release from Wine Spectator.

DiSalvo’s

Chef Vince DiSalvo and his sister, Marisa, run DiSalvo’s Restaurant, 341 E. Fourth St. Marisa’s husband, Tait Carnevale, serves as the somellier and wine buyer.

“Tait pretty much built the (wine) program,” DiSalvo said of his brother-in-law. “The nice thing is that Tait knows what he’s trying” when tasting a wine.

About 5,000 bottles are at the ready throughout the restaurant and in storerooms, the chef said. The wine list covers a spectrum of pricing, with choices that pair well with menu selections, factors that are important to Wine Spectator. DiSalvo estimated the restaurant has won the Spectator Award for the last 12 consecutive years.

Purchasing wine for their selection is accomplished through wine brokers and auction houses, and DiSalvo is pleased to receive allotments that are not available in state stores from the brokers. The collection goes back to 1998 with some of the “very high-end Super Tuscans” like Ornellaia, Sassacaia and Gaja, DiSalvo added.

The DiSalvo family traces its history in Williamsport to their patriarch, Antonio, who arrived here in 1903 as a shoemaker. He was part owner in the Williamsport Macaroni Company on Willow Street, DiSalvo said of his grandfather. Antonio’s son Dr. Vincent I. DiSalvo was a local oral surgeon and husband of Mariannina, who immigrated to Williamsport from Florence, Italy, in 1956, bringing along her family’s recipes for pasta and sauce that has stood the test of time.

Mariannina opened her pasta company in 1985 on Willow Street, a few years before Vince DiSalvo opened a small restaurant at High Street and Wildwood Boulevard. With Marisa running the pasta shop for their mother, DiSalvo said, the thought was to marry the pasta company and the original restaurant. Mariannina stayed on for about five years, her son said, and then stepped back when her late husband retired.

DiSalvo’s uses Mariannina’s pasta recipes and the original machinery to produce it now. Over the years the menu has gone through an evolution, but the traditional-style cooking continues at the establishment, the chef said.

Also, DiSalvo, who worked many years as a commercial fisherman, goes to the docks himself every week to pick up his own fish.

“We butcher all of our fish and all of our beef, with everything done in house, he said. DiSalvo bakes all the bread and is happy to have added to the kitchen a brand new gelato maker imported from Italy two months ago.

Whether serving food from their own garden or pouring a glass of fine wine, “it’s all about understanding the product,” DiSalvo said.

“This is what we do and what we love and we do it every day,” he said. “We live it.”

Le Jeune Chef

As fine dining establishments go, Le Jeune Chef, meaning “the young chef” in French, stands unique in the restaurant business. Not only is Le Jeune Chef a traditional restaurant serving the public, its primary focus is to serve as an educational lab for the Business and Hospitality Department on the campus of Pennsylvania College of Technology, explained Dr. Lisa Andrus, dean of the department.

Andrus works closely with Michael Triassi, director of sales and restaurant operations, to both meet students’ academic needs and maintain the reputation of the restaurant as a well-known, affordable dining destination for great food and great wine.

That recipe for success on two levels provides students with a first-rate education at Penn College. Those who will earn a four-year bachelor’s degree from the department starting in the fall of 2020 can stand ready for “front of the house management positions in the best places,” Andrus pointed out.

Le Jeune Chef has received the Award of Excellence from Wine Spectator every year since 1995, noted a recent Penn College press release. The honor goes back to the days when Dr. Robert Breuder, the first president of Penn College, carried out his forward-thinking vision for the institution. Andrus commented that over the years the chef instructors would often describe the collection as “Breuder’s baby.”

Pleased with the consistent national and global recognition of their wine selection, Andrus added that the collection has been “purposefully maintained” over the years to educate both students and the community.

To win the award, she believes the restaurant was recognized for a good balance at varying price points.

“We want our customers who come into the dining room to feel comfortable with purchasing a bottle,” said the dean. With affordable choices on the menu and the wine list, diners can feel more free to “experience something new,” she said.

Andrus is aware that paging through a voluminous, classical wine list offering 562 bottles can be intimidating for some, even for her, and including student servers and the professional staff who can’t be expected to fully know all the wines.

To alleviate that, Le Jeune Chef will introduce customized software later this year through WineQuest. In addition to organizing the selections in a user-friendly format for management, servers can bring an iPad to the table for patrons to click through choices. They can even take a quiz about their taste preferences, leading them to suitable choices that match their tasting profiles.

“It’s very searchable, fun and engaging,” Andrus said.