Meet Giancarlo DiTullio | Restaurant Owner & Commercial Broker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Giancarlo DiTullio and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Giancarlo, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Risk taking takes practice. It may be difficult to jump into something that is uncertain. No one likes to fail. There is something to be said, however, about how much you learn from failure and how this could propel you to new heights. Anaid and I differ very much about how much risk we allow in our lives– she is very much calculated and likes to envision the worst case scenario in all decision making and I thrive on all the possibilities.

That being said, we took a huge risk career wise taking over a restaurant during Covid. Regardless of experience it was sure to be a daunting task. I came from managing a fine dining restaurant, while Anaid had been serving at a new Thai concept in Japantown in San Francisco. Between us we had almost two decades of experience, but the unknowns were very much in our minds.

Had Covid not happened we most likely wouldn’t have had the opportunity to pursue this restaurant venture. We had not heard of Merced CA before and upon our market research saw growth here and thought we would take the risk and bring our Bay Area experience to the Central Valley. San Francisco being one if the mecca’s in the hospitality scene, we felt it would be a great opportunity to be part of the growth in the Central Valley. UC Merced being the newest UC in California brings a spotlight on what Merced had to offer.

2 years later we couldn’t be happier we took the risk in purchasing Bella Luna. We have met come wonderful people made lasting relationships that hopefully will form loyal impressions.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Giancarlo DiTullio is a high energy, motivated person who has a passion for people and a love for the hospitality industry. Giancarlo’s hands-on experience, and understanding of the sacrifice and a sense of pride around operating a restaurant prepared Giancarlo for ownership.

Born and raised in San Francisco, Giancarlo spent most of his formative years being mentored by his father, Richard DiTullio, a commercial real estate agent and hospitality industry veteran. From hands on management in numerous restaurants to accompanying him on listing appointments, it’s only natural that Giancarlo would follow in his footsteps. As a young boy, Giancarlo spent time in his fathers pizzeria and helped bus tables at the Verde Club, an Italian private club in San Francisco his father managed.

As Giancarlo grew older and enrolled in San Jose State his passion for people and food began to really blossom. He joined the Hospitality Management program with the emphasis in Food & Beverage. Giancarlo knew he has to begin gathering experience in his field of study and started hosting at Casino Matrix, a new Casino and sports bar in San Jose. Giancarlo accumulated 2-3 years experience there hosting and food running. He continued to aspire for management and the next step would be serving. He began serving at a country club in San Jose for roughly 1 year until moving his career to be with Michael Mina.

After graduating from San Jose State University’s Hospitality Management program, Giancarlo was part of the opening team of Michael Mina’s Bourbon Steak & Pub at 49ers Football Levi’s Stadium – an 18,000-square-foot property catering to 1500 guests on home game days while also maintaining steakhouse, pub and private event operations daily. Throughout his two years with Michelin Star Chef Michael Mina, he developed a true understanding of fine dining having worked alongside multiple celebrity chefs. This experience launched his career and really gave him the aspirations to run high quality restaurants. After his time at Michael Mina he was hired as one of the opening management team members for a Sam Fox concept opening in Palo Alto, called True Food Kitchen. Another 250 seat restaurant with very high volume on a daily basis. The year went by and Giancarlo had reached out to a former mentor who was the GM of Il Fornaio in Palo Alto. Giancarlo quickly followed his mentor in assisting him with running this Italian restaurant. Giancarlo was there for 4 years until the director of operations for Bird Dog reached out seeking a General Manager in hopes to acquire a Michelin Star. Giancarlo’s experience was leading up to this moment. Unfortunate 6 months in, Covid hit and eventually Giancarlo was furloughed.

During Giancarlo’s time at Il Fornaio he acquired his real estate license and became a broker for Steve Zimmerman of Restaurant Realty Company. This experience helped Giancarlo read financial statement and allowed him access to knowledge from all his colleagues within the firm. Giancarlo has sold 5-6 restaurant himself and during covid came across one of his colleagues that looked interesting Too good to be true it was time Giancarlo took over ownership of his own restaurant. Anaid and Giancarlo made the decision to run this place together. Anaid, Giancarlo’s wife, also has over 10 years experience in restaurants having been at Michael Mina, Nashmarkt and most recently Nari, head by Michelin Star Chef Pim of SF’s Kinkoa. The restaurant business is exactly where them two should be and the fact that they get to due it together as husband and wife makes it that much more special.

Anaid and Giancarlo are most proud of changing the dynamic of the stigma of restaurant culture. They pride themselves on putting their staff first, treating everyone that works for them with respect. Another point of price,having taken over a long standing Italian Restaurant in the city of Merced, it was important Anaid and Giancarlo were able to maintain positive relationships with those that have been patrons for years. Coming from the Bay Area it has been inspiring to expose people to wine, cocktails and cuisine they were not familiar with. Constant learning and teaching is what keeps our gears turning on a daily basis.

Our goal is to make every guest feel they are number one priority. To make our guests feel a connection; to our food, to our drinks, to their experience, to our staff! We accomplish this by being our guests’ liaison, guiding them through the experience the moment they walk in the door. Creating these moments with our guests we build a genuine connection that forms a loyal impression.

With all of the dining choices our guests have, we want them to be truly delighted they have chosen us!

Today, Bella Luna continues to serve high quality Italian food made from ingredients of the Central Valley & Peninsula. Our menu is influenced by the rich cultures of Italy, drawing inspiration from different regions throughout Italy. The passion in our cooking has not only been nurtured by rich Italian cooking techniques, recipes and ingredients; but has motivated us to innovate and put our own spin on classics.

The music may be loud and the conversation louder. You will have a sense of “home” within our walls.

Welcome to Bella Luna!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Anaid Martinez-DiTullio is my wife, my rock and my business partner. We run the restaurant together acting as GM and AGM. She is a huge factor to our success and we look forward to opening more restaurants together.

Richard DiTullio, my father, who is an inspiration to me and the one that introduced me to the restaurant biz.

Website: www.bellalunamerced.com

Instagram: @bellalunamerced

Image Credits
Anaid Martinez-DiTullio Giancarlo DiTullio