Greater love hath no man for his dog, that he would name a restaurant after him. Ziggy D’Amico’s Whiskey Bar and Diner, which opened in November in the former D’Amico & Sons space on Ninth Street North, immortalizes Richard D’Amico’s departed border collie.
There are many changes from the Italian restaurant that was popular for decades: Ziggy’s has a full liquor license and an upscale gastropub menu designed to appeal to a wider range of customers. Of course, the terrace is dog-friendly. “D’Amico & Sons was successful, but it was time for a change,” says Michael Smith, director of operations for the D’Amico & Partners full-service restaurants. “Naples is evolving, and we wanted to reach out to a younger clientele.”
Ziggy’s has a pizza oven that burns Florida white oak, and options include a cauliflower crust as well as a Sicilian deep dish (similar to the Detroit style, but not as thick as Chicago). The menu focuses on classic comfort food: there’s meatloaf and ribs, Nashville hot chicken, a lobster roll, and everything from tuna poke to biscuits with sausage gravy. The menu was developed by a team of chefs and sous chefs at Campiello before being fine-tuned by executive chef Jose Portillo.
The $9 bottomless glass of wine may be gone, but there’s a global wine list in its place that features carefully chosen selections at reasonable prices. The cocktail program is innovative, and there are as many expressions of bourbon as will fit on the bar. And according to the menu, Ziggy would have felt right at home: “I always imagined if he was a person he would have a big, fat Cohiba cigar and a fine glass of whiskey…sitting on the porch watching the world go by.”
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