Passion fuels family-run, upscale Casa Mia in Scottsdale

She was raised in Italy in a family that loved to cook. Her father ran restaurants in their homeland.

But occasionally, Hera Ambrosio, co-owner of Casa Mia Italian restaurant, is stumped by a new customer asking for shrimp scampi or chicken Vesuvio.

“People ask me for dishes that I don’t know,” Ambrosio said in an energetic voice that flaunts an alluring Italian accent that laces her perfect English. Other popular Italian-inspired dishes that bug her: chicken and veal parmigiana. “The only parmigiana (dish) in Italy is eggplant.”

The desire to set the record straight to hungry patrons was the inspiration behind Casa Mia, the upscale north Scottsdale restaurant Ambrosio founded with her younger brother, Nantas Sodano, and their father, Danilo Sodano, in 2000. She theorized that when Italian immigrants settled in New York City around the turn of the 20th century, they were unable to find certain ingredients and used what they could find to create an American version of traditional favorites or tweak them to appeal to the masses.

“I don’t know for sure, but that is my guess,” she said.

Ambrosio was 11 when the family moved from Italy to Scottsdale.

“There was a need for a real Italian restaurant. That was 20 years ago … almost nothing authentic,” she said.

They opened Casa Mia with her father as chef and Ambrosio hostessing and assisting severs while she was in high school. It sat just 30 customers at a time, and every night, Ambrosio said, there was line at the door. They moved to a larger space to accommodate demand and moved to their current location in 2014, always staying in the same area and earning the reputation of being the neighborhood Italian place.

Since 2011, Casa Mia has grown, on average, 20 percent each year, Ambrosio said.

The success of Casa Mia sparked the 2016 launch of CM2 Pizzeria & Bake Shop next door. A more casual concept to the high-end original, it draws customers that Ambrosia had never seen at Casa Mia and broadens the family restaurant’s reach.

Nearly every ingredient — from the wines to the hard-to-get Sardinian dried mullet roe that’s a key component in an elevated spaghetti dish, which is Ambrosio’s favorite on the menu — is handpicked by Danilo and Ambrosio and imported from Italy.

Alongside the authentic plates are a few are Danilo’s original recipes made with Italian ingredients but not necessarily traditional. One of them is the strascinati, homemade sausage, broccoli and Montasio cheese. This and the spaghetti with mullet roe are two of the unique items at Casa Mia.

The spaghetti is a favorite of Scottsdale resident Melody McKay, who has been eating at Casa Mia with her family once a week for the past 15 years. She also enjoys the seafood risotto and the rotating ravioli specials, especially the pumpkin version with butter-and-sage sauce that is served in the fall.

“The food is incredible. It’s authentic Italian and they have great Italian wines. Everything on the menu is special,” McKay said.

McKay has taken cooking classes that Ambrosio holds each month at CM2. She’s learned how to make the restaurant’s dishes, and the recipes are emailed to her as a participant. McKay appreciates how Casa Mia captures both the spirit of a mom-and-pop and a hip big-city hot spot.

“They make you feel like you’re in your own home with a really cool vibe, maybe like you’d find in SoHo (in New York City). The art work on the walls changes every month,” McKay said. “Not many people know about it because it’s kind of hidden. But it’s worth the drive.”

The Casa Mia and CM2 ventures are full-fledged family affairs. Ambrosio runs Casa Mia and her brother, Nantas, who joined the business 10 years ago, runs CM2. Their father, Danilo, is the executive chef who runs kitchen that connects both eateries. Their mother, Rosa, does all the baking.

Offering diners an authentic and high-quality Italian cuisine and wine option has been one reason for the restaurant’s growth over years amid competition, trends and economic conditions beyond their control, Ambrosio explained.

Passion, she said, is another.

“People saw that it’s not just a money investment. They really saw it’s something we did with our soul,” Ambrosio said. “And when you go something you love, it can only do well.”