Dante and his team have been proud to call Waltham home for over five years, though their roots in the Boston culinary scene go back much further. Dante began cooking in 1979 at home in Pescara, Abruzzo and along the Adriatic coast, where he first honed the flavors and techniques that define traditional Italian cuisine. Over time, his love for travel and food deepened, inspiring a personal cooking style grounded in Abruzzo’s rustic traditions and elevated by global influences.
In 1997, he was invited by Les Marino to serve as executive chef at Marino Restaurant in North Cambridge. He went on to spend time cooking in Boston’s North End, before opening the acclaimed Tartufo Restaurant in Newton Centre in 2004, where he was executive chef and co-owner until 2019. Over the years he’s worked as a consulting chef for several restaurants.
Since 2020, Dante and his team continue to share their passion for soulful, elevated Italian cooking with the Waltham community—welcoming longtime regulars and new guests alike.

Vinotta is a boutique Italian restaurant specializing in gourmet Abruzzese recipes with an emphasis on seafood, housemade pastas, and fresh, locally sourced ingredients. Our menu blends tradition with creativity, offering both classic and modern Italian dishes made from scratch. A thoughtfully curated selection of domestic and imported wines complements every dish, available for both dine-in and takeout.