Taste Of Italy
Convivio is creating a cultural connection throughout central Indiana by innovating a culinary tradition.
“The idea there right off the bat was to create a place that allowed people to connect with Italian culture. That’s kind of our motto or our mission statement. It’s trying to create a cultural connection by innovating community and tradition. We’re pretty proud of featuring things in the menu that are hard to find elsewhere. We have spatzle right now that’s not commonly found anywhere; that comes from the region Trentino. It’s having dishes that describe and tell a story. It’s the wine list that features the map of Italy, that describes Italy and its older wines and where the wines are located. From a design standpoint we have Italian art, we have books laying around. We’re trying to create that cultural connection,” says owner Andrea Melani.
Convivio’s newest location in Noblesville opened in March and is ready to take guests on a flavorful tour of Italy with innovation and Italian tradition.
Having already been established in central Indiana with locations in Carmel and Zionsville, there was a great opportunity to capitalize and be a part of the huge momentum of growth happening in Hamilton County — more specifically Westfield and Noblesville — by being able to position a new location between these two growing cities.
“We’re super excited to be in the Noblesville market. We love to be part of what is happening right now because there’s been tremendous growth both in Noblesville and Westfield and we’re kind of located in between, so we feel that we’re part of both communities and we look forward to really getting to know the people of both Noblesville and Westfield,” says Melani.
Balancing authenticity with creativity is important at Convivio, where the primary focus is to always stay authentic with cooking methods and tradition, including a focus on fresh pasta that’s made in-house daily.
“We try to be as authentic as possible and one of the things that I always strive to is to bring authenticity by adding ingredients for products that are coming straight from Italy,” says Melani.
Unique to Convivio are their pasta-making machines that are imported from Italy, which is very important in creating the pasta used in their authentic Italian cuisine.
“The centerpiece of the restaurant is an enclosed room with big glass where you can see the pasta machines. The pasta maker makes the pasta every day. They’re imported from Italy and we use these pasta machines at each location. The cool thing about the process is that it allows us to make pasta in a very short period of time and because it’s fresh it reduces the cooking time quite a bit. It gives us the versatility of infusing flavors and making as many different shapes of pasta. We can really get closer to that authentic experience because we can just create shapes that are more commonly found in Italy that otherwise you have to buy here in a dry format,” says Melani.
Twice a year, Convivio’s menu will feature a specific Italian region.
“Typically every six months we try to change the menu. So we feature a region section of Italy with four to five items; they tend to be an appetizer, salad, pasta and a pizza. Right now we are featuring Tuscany and in the upcoming new menu that we’re planning to roll out in June or July is going to be the Campania region, where Naples (Napoli) is located, and that region is namely famous for pizza and many other dishes with cheeses and sauces,” says Melani.
Inside the restaurant there is a modern and upscale aesthetic filled with brick, tile and dark wood element accents, sophisticated lighting, a showcasing back bar, decorative archways, framed art pieces, and booths and dining chairs that blend style with comfort and functionality. There are upcoming plans to turn a patio space into a four-season room that can be used throughout the year.
“Convivio literally means living together, but it’s like living and having experiences together. Naming the restaurant came from trying to create that experience for our guests—where you come and enjoy the restaurant and share that experience with friends and family. Kind of sharing bread together, and that’s the idea and feel of our hospitality,” says Melani.
Come with good company and break bread together at Convivio in Noblesville located at 5986 Midland Pointe Blvd. Learn more about Convivio’s hours, menu and online ordering by visiting its website at convivioindy.com.
