Olivero Now Open With the Flavors of Spain, Italy, and New Orleans in Wilmington, North Carolina | Eater Carolinas
"Opened on the corner of Castle and South 3rd Streets, this long-anticipated restaurant is the personal project of chef Sunny Gerhart (of Raleigh’s St. Roch) and his chosen co-executive chef, Lauren Krall Ivey. It explores Gerhart’s Italian and Spanish roots with detours to New Orleans through a menu that blends coastal North Carolina ingredients with Mediterranean techniques: standout plates include a beignet served in fontina fonduta with mortadella and Calabrian hot honey, a lasagna made with an octopus Bolognese and Spanish chorizo, mafaldine with sweet corn and North Carolina crab, and agnolotti stuffed with butter beans and mascarpone. The kitchen turns out housemade pasta daily on a custom Arcobaleno extruder and centers around a large wood-fired grill that produces grilled ribeye, local fish and smoky vegetable preparations—reflecting Krall Ivey’s wood-fire expertise. The interior pairs retro, red-sauce-joint tiles and leather booths with a shining zig-zag bar and marble bistro tables, while a cocktail-forward bar program emphasizes sherry and Mediterranean flavors (including a fino-sherry martini and a sherry-based boilermaker with Basque cider) and a European-leaning wine list heavy on sherry and vermouth. Personal touches—framed family photographs rescued after Hurricane Katrina and careful restoration of a historic neighborhood building—tie the design and menu back to Gerhart’s family story and coastal roots." - Matt Lardie
