Alimentari brings Italian food to downtown Chattanooga's 'West End'

Alimentari is located at 801 Chestnut Street, just one block from the Chattanooga Westin hotel.
Alimentari is located at 801 Chestnut Street, just one block from the Chattanooga Westin hotel.

Alimentari is a word seen on signs outside shops in Italy.

"It just means 'food.' It's like a general store," said Javier Peralta-Ramos, who aims to make Alimentari a household name in Chattanooga.

He's the visionary behind Alimentari Cucina e Bar, a restaurant that opened Wednesday - for lunch only initially, with dinner to start in about two weeks - at the corner of Chestnut and West Eighth streets in what's been branded as downtown's "West End" or "West Village."

"Everybody loves Italian food," he said.

During the day, Alimentari is meant to be an affordable lunch place with quick service targeted at employees of banks, law offices and other downtown businesses.

Panini, or Italian sandwiches, cost $7 to $8. Pizza is $10 to $13. Entrees range from $10 for tagliatelle puttanesca, a pasta dish, to $16 for bistecca alla fiorentina, which is sirloin steak.

At night, the lighting and music will change and Alimentari will morph into a tony, big city-style eatery.

Alimentari features pasta made in house, a full bar and a wine list of around 60 wines, ranging from familiar California brands to obscure Italian offerings.

"It's very heavy on the Italian wines," Peralta-Ramos said. "The unfamiliar territory is going to be in all the Italian wines."

'Great start' to brand the area

The restaurant has mid-century modern furnishings, "floating walls" that hold the wine bottles behind the bar, and paintings for sale brought to Alimentari by Gallery 1401, a fine art gallery at Market and Main streets.

The head chef is Sarah Benoit, formerly of 212 Market Restaurant, and the sous chef is Jeff Little.

Alimentari gives people another reason to come to the neighborhood, said Blake DeFoor, of the DeFoor Brothers.

The DeFoor Brothers' company co-owns Alimentari with Peralta-Ramos. The DeFoor Brothers are behind the $88 million redevelopment of the West End, which is anchored by the newly-opened Westin Hotel in the "gold building."

"We're trying to brand the area, and I think that this is such a great start," Blake DeFoor said.

His sister, Arlyn DeFoor Haycock, helped design Alimentari's interior.

Other improvements the DeFoor Brothers made to the neighborhood include redoing the streetscape in partnership with the city and opening a Peet's Coffee and Tea and a Pinkberry frozen yogurt shop. Future developments include a tequila bar and a Steakbar 347 by Shula's.

The DeFoors knew Peralta-Ramos because he ran a wine-focused market in Vero Beach, Fla., where the family vacations.

Peralta-Ramos originally is from Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. Most Argentinians have Italian ancestry, he said, and Peralta-Ramos grew up going to big family dinners at his "nonna's," or Italian grandmother's, house.

"It never ended. They would just keep bringing food," he remembers.

Contact staff writer Tim Omarzu at tomarzu@timesfreepress.com or www.facebook.com/MeetsForBusiness or on Twitter @meetforbusiness or 423-757-6651.

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