Italian with tradition

CENTERTON — It's 9 a.m., two hours before she unlocks the doors, but Caryn Ciampoli is already sporting her flour-covered rubber gloves. She's got her pizza dough ready to throw, and with a smile on her face, she's arranging a pan of her signature garlic knots.

"I always remember my father saying, 'Caryn, are you paying attention? Did you see how that was done?'" she said.

She did see. So she knew, even as a little tike, exactly how it was done, no matter if the "it" was eggplant lasagna, manicotti, clams and linguini or anything else Italian. And those skills and family recipes are coming in handy for Ciampoli, right here in northwest Arkansas again.

Well into the 1980s, her father, Nick Ciampoli, wasknown in northwest Arkansas for his wizardry in the kitchen. He started by opening Nick's Pizzeria in Rogers, and eventually Palermo Villa, which later relocated to Arkansas Highway 102, just west of Centerton.

Caryn Ciampoli eventually left the area for Florida, but 15 years after her father's death, she's back - and with her father's kitchen secrets in tow. She teamed up with longtime friend Mikey Fryer to open DomaBella Italian Eatery, 439 W. Centerton Blvd. at Beckendale Plaza in Centerton, this spring and has been working ever since to build the family reputation up again.

From cannoli and ravioli to chicken pizzolia, stuffedshell Italian-sausage parmesan, calzones, antipasto and more, you'll find Ciampoli working her magic in the kitchen while Fryer holds down the front of the house. Their families, who helped the two get the concept upand running, can be found in the restaurant serving tables and lending a helping hand. And that's the kind ofenvironment the co-owners plan to keep dishing up.

"I get really excited doing what I'm doing because I know there are a lot of people who remember my father's cooking," Ciampoli said, motioning enthusiastically with her hands in signature Italian style. "People come in here and tell us my father would be proud. Even those who were kids when we left - they're all grown up now and coming back."

Walk in the door, and you're immediately hit with all the smells you would expect to find in an Italian kitchen, as it opens up to the dining room. By design, it's a small dining room, a handful of small tables with red-and-white-checkered tablecloths. The frontwindows are lined with matching curtains, and the walls are covered in Italian and Ciampoli family knickknacks. And unlike many restaurants around the area, thereare no televisions.

None.

"We didn't want any," Fryer said. "If people wantthat, there are a lot of other places they can get that environment. This is a small, quaint place. It's the kind of place where, when you're here, conversation goes from table to table. That's the way we think it should be."

Apparently, that quaint, throwback atmosphere - and the food - are hitting the spot with customers.

"We've gone through 500 cannolis since we opened," Ciampoli said. "I've kept count."

Fryer said business and customer reviews have been good, but the co-owners said they are still working hard to get their name out.

"So many people still come in and say they never noticed us until just now,"Fryer said. "We're out there getting involved in the community, especially here in Centerton. We want to be more than a restaurant. We just think if more people in Bentonville and Rogers and some of these other towns find out we're here, they'll be coming in and coming back, too."

And Ciampoli will be more than happy to treattheir taste buds right.

"See that photo on the wall," Ciampoli said. "That's my dad with Sam Walton, in dad's old Palermo Villa restaurant. Dad did it right, and that's what we're trying to do here. I've never forgotten watching him work. I've heard from a lot of people who were here back then, and they haven't forgotten, either."