Osteria Il Centro celebrates 20 years of wine and pasta

Gregg Johnson had an anniversary yesterday, but he didn’t celebrate it.

The veteran restaurateur — and owner of 12 Minsky’s Pizza venues in the Kansas City metro — opened his popular south Plaza restaurant, Osteria Il Centro (5101 Main), on St. Patrick’s Day of 1995. It might be the luck of the Irish or the right restaurant in the right place at the right time; it has been a very successful two decades.

To toast his own good luck, Johnson has arranged to close down the stretch of Main Street in front of his restaurant for an anniversary celebration this Sunday, March 22, from 4 to 8 p.m.

The party, which will feature passed hors d’ oeuvres, wine, beer and a cash bar, is a fundraiser for St. Luke’s Cancer Institute to honor the memory of a longtime patron who died several years ago. The Tim Whitmer Trio will be performing at the event. Tickets cost $20 (or $25 the day of the event); for more information, go here.

The intimate restaurant — it has just 65 seats, including the bar — was almost an impulsive decision by Johnson, who had a busy Minsky’s Pizza next door : “There was a never-ending series of Mediterranean restaurants in the space that seemed to be passed along from one family member to another. When it was available again, I signed the lease myself.” 

“I knew what I wanted to do with it. I had visited osteries in Italy and I liked the concept: a neighborhood wine bar with fresh, simple food. When I opened Osteria Il Centro, we focused on the wine and had 10 food items, not meals but small plates.”

That limited menu didn’t last long.

“Our regular customers would come in and ask if we could possibly make this or serve that,” Johnson says. “By the time we were three months old, we had a full menu, And it really hasn’t changed much over the years.”

Neither has the staff in the kitchen. Executive chef Jaime Salgado has been with Osteria Il Centro for 17 years. And no, the menu hasn’t had much revamping in years. 

On the other hand, the wine list, now overseen by general manager Brent Wittrock, has expanded dramatically over the years. The restaurant has received 16 consecutive awards from Wine Spectator magazine.