Pane e Vino: Household Secrets Become Neighborhood Favorites

By Becky Billingsley

With recipes straight from Italy and a passion for creating new versions of old favorites, Pane e Vino quickly became entrenched in the hearts and stomachs of Grand Strand diners.

It has only been a little more than a year since native Romans Antonio and Anna Chillico, and their son, Claudio Chillico, opened the modest restaurant in the Carolina Forest area of Myrtle Beach, but diners who appreciate authentic Italian cuisine quickly made it a locals' hangout.

The Chillicos moved to the U.S. about 20 years ago when Claudio was a young teenager. They had restaurants in West Virginia, and since moving to the Grand Strand in 1985 they had a pizza restaurant in Myrtle Beach. But the family wanted a new place where they could serve their native homemade recipes, Claudio said, and they thought Carolina Forest was the perfect area to create a neighborhood Italian restaurant.

“We want to deal with people who appreciate great quality food and will come back,” Claudio says. “We never want to be stagnant. We're always innovating with the culinary arts and with our passion. If we're not going to serve it at our own Sunday dinner, we're not going to serve it in our restaurant.”

The Chillicos make their own pastas and all the mother sauces like marinara, Bolognese, beef and chicken. Of course with a name like Pane e Vino, they also bake their own breads such as the small hot-from-the-oven dense and crusty rolls that come complimentary with meals, along with a saucer of Antonio's 50-year-old secret recipe oil and herb dip.

Pane e Vino is open for lunch and dinner, and both menus contain dishes that make diners look forward to their next visits.

A few lunch standouts include Chicken Rosemary Salad, Mortadella Panini, their beautiful three-layer Lasagna, and house-made pasta served with a generous dollop of the Chillico's signature creamy tomato sauce.

My favorite lunch dish is the Pollo alla Cacciatora (Chicken Cacciatore). The meat is so tender it falls off the bones with just a tiny prod from my fork, and you get moist and delectable dark and white meat. It comes in a thin tomato broth portioned perfectly so that the broth added flavor, but doesn't make the dish messy (that bread basket comes in handy here for some sopping action). Potatoes cooked with the chicken came with the meal, and they are also moist, firm and flavorful.

An appealing aspect to the lunch menu is that while it's packed full of delicious choices, it isn't extensive so the kitchen staff can get you in and out and back to work or play within an hour. But don't worry, if you have time to linger you won't be rushed.

Dinners offer more choices such as their new Baked Artichoke appetizer that's filled with spices, cheese and that lovely tomato sauce. On a hot summer day the cold Antipasto Platter is a refreshing collection of tasty tart/creamy/salty morsels including house-roasted red peppers, olives, fresh Roma tomatoes and mozzarella, and Prosciutto di Parma that's freshly sliced so it retains a pleasantly fluffy texture.

A few more dinner choices include Veal alla Vodka with creamy mushroom vodka sauce; the spicy Spaghetti alla Diavola with jumbo shrimp; Spinach Manicotti; Cannelloni Delicati; house-made Gnocchi; Orange Roughy with tomatoes, spices and mozzarella; and Involtini (also called Braciole) that is beef pounded thin and rolled with a stuffing of vegetables before being baked with tomato sauce, mushrooms and mozzarella.

A delectable new entree is Jumbo Shrimp with Roasted Red Pepper Cream Sauce and served over pasta. Recent hot weather has also instigated a couple of cool new desserts: House-made Lemon Sorbetta with a granite texture and light flavoring; and Macedonia, which is a house-made fresh fruit cocktail in sweet syrup.

Of course many Italian wines are also served, and a new one is the Super Tuscan Tomaiolo. A vintage you can get by the glass is the lovely velvet-smooth and smokey Montepulciano D' Abruzzo with hints of tobacco. A full bar is also available.

One side of the restaurant has dining tables, and the other has cocktail tables, a comfy lounge area and a bar. Both sides are sunny and relaxing, and the restaurant is decorated with tasteful ironwork and Italian-inspired paintings that are often changed.

You’ll find Pane e Vino at 4016-7 River Oaks Drive, in a strip shopping center in front of the Carolina Forest Food Lion grocery store. It's open from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, and daily from 4:30-9:30 p.m. You can bring your laptop because they have free Wi-Fi, and the number is (843) 903-3136.

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