The first thing Carmine Delli Bovi remembers isn't a restaurant, it's olive trees . . . hundreds of them.
Growing up south of Naples in Battipaglia, his family never bought olive oil. They pressed their own. There were pigs that became prosciutto, pancetta and salami. Tomatoes ripened in the backyard before becoming sauce. Meals weren't assembled from recipes as much as they were harvested from the land.
"It was natural," Delli Bovi says. "We made everything."
Those early lessons—long before culinary school or restaurant ownership—still shape every decision inside Carmine's restaurant, where handmade pasta, imported Italian ingredients and a wood-fired brick oven reflect a philosophy rooted less in trends than tradition.
After a brief chapter of experimentation and rebranding, Carmine's is embracing that philosophy more fully than ever. In many ways, it's a return home.
Delli Bovi was only 17 when he began spending his days in a neighborhood pizzeria.
"I fell in love," he says simply.
The kitchen became a classroom. He learned every station, from stretching pizza dough to making fresh mozzarella, and discovered something that felt less like work than calling.
At 23, he moved to Utah and managed the kitchen of an Italian restaurant in Orem. In 2016, he opened Carmine's with a vision of bringing authentic Italian cooking to Utah. Ten years later, that vision has only sharpened.
Walk through Carmine's today and you'll find a newly renovated space that feels modern yet inviting. An added lounge, with jewel-toned accents and plush furniture, offers guests a place to linger over cocktails before or after dinner. Upstairs, private event space hosts everything from birthday celebrations to corporate meetings.
The updates aren't about changing the restaurant's identity; they're about giving people more ways to experience it.
"In Italy," Delli Bovi says, "people stay."
If there's one word Delli Bovi returns to often, it's authentic.
Fresh pasta is made in-house daily, sometimes multiple times a day. Flour arrives from Italy. San Marzano tomatoes come from the volcanic soil near Naples. Parmigiano-Reggiano, prosciutto and other staples are imported directly from their regions of origin.
The menu itself remains intentionally focused. Rather than chasing novelty, Delli Bovi prefers perfecting familiar dishes.
"A simple pizza is art," he says.
Even the restaurant itself reflects his hands-on approach. The massive wood-fired brick oven wasn't purchased from a manufacturer; rather, Delli Bovi built it himself. The skill traces back to another family influence, an uncle who taught him as a boy.
In fact, he estimates he's constructed around 20 traditional brick ovens throughout Utah over the past decade.
That willingness to create something piece by piece mirrors the way he approaches cooking: patient craftsmanship over convenience.
Recently, Delli Bovi returned to Battipaglia. Walking family land with his father, he found himself reconnecting with the rhythms that first inspired him. His mother cooked for him, transforming a simple squash into a hearty dish with white beans and olive oil.
"I think she's the best chef in the world," he says.
He studied professional cooking and trained with accomplished chefs, but the recipes guests enjoy at Carmine's—the marinara, the Bolognese, the eggplant Parmigiana—still trace back to his mother's kitchen.
"What she gave me," he says, searching for the English words, "was the passion."
Ask Delli Bovi what he orders when he eats at his own restaurant and his answer is surprisingly modest: spaghetti with marinara or a Margherita pizza.
The way he sees it, simple fare is the litmus test for a chef’s capabilities. It has to be excellent.
It's the same philosophy that now guides Carmine's next chapter. After years of growth and experimentation, the restaurant is embracing what it has always been: a place where old-world craftsmanship, family traditions and genuine hospitality meet around the table.
For Delli Bovi, that's never gone out of style . . . it's simply home.
I love to see how people, with simple ingredients, create something special.