Divine Dining Gets Cozy At Sardelli's Italian Steakhouse

HOLLYWOOD (CBSMiami) - With no signage in the front, you might mistake Sardelli's Italian Steakhouse, a four-story building on Hollywood Beach, for a private home—and that is actually on purpose.

Head chef and owner Fulvio Sardelli Jr. wants his customers to feel like they've come home when they enter his charming family-owned divine dining spot.

"My mother is usually at the front or I'm in the kitchen or some family member or cousin or a nephew somewhere is running around here. See we really try to keep it very family-oriented, but still very fine dining," said Fulvio Jr.

Fine dining that comes from only the finest ingredients.

Up on the third floor, Fulvio picks fresh herbs from the garden.

"My parents are very, you know, this farm-to-table—it's very hip. Now my parents have been farm-to-table since there was no tables just farms," joked Fulvio. "My father goes to Homestead and brings them gifts and they give him special fields so he planted these peppers," explaining to CBS4's Lisa Petrillo how he jars them himself to make jams and jellies.

It took almost 10 years to create this beach hideaway which opened a little more than year ago.

"We bought this property to build a house and the city told us that it was owned commercial and we got to build more square footage. So we built a house on the top two floors, and a restaurant on the bottom two floors. But now we are converting the home to a private restaurant," said Fulvio.

It's in the kitchen, though, where Fulvio feels most at home. During Petrillo's visit, he prepared some delicate dishes for sampling.

First was a beautiful "Summer Salad" with fresh watermelon, baby heirloom tomatoes, goat cheese and fresh basil.

"The sweet from the watermelon, the tangy from the tomatoes and the kick from goat cheese, Bella!" said Petrillo.

Following the salad was a poached-egg-topped filet mignon with a delicate red sauce.

"That is the most tender succulent steak," Petrillo said.

Next up, an eggplant parmagiana ravioli with homemade mozzarella and roasted tomatoes

"It's a piece of art…it really is," said Petrillo.

Sardelli's Italian Steakhouse is open 7 days a week. For more information, visit their website by clicking here.