il Casale's Story...
A little about us...
Italian families don’t stray too far from home. They may try but their heart always brings them back together.
Dante, Damian, and Filippo deMagistris, three brothers, grew up atop their father’s hair salon and, as fate would have it, they opened the second of their four restaurants on the same block. In 2009, that became il Casale, their truest expression of a traditional Italian experience.
The deMagistris brothers began their restaurant ventures together in 2006 with Restaurant Dante, in the Royal Sonesta Hotel in Cambridge Massachusetts to critical acclaim from Food & Wine and O Magazine, as well as being named one of Bon Appetit Magazine’s “Hot 10 Restaurants” of 2006, Boston Globe Magazine’s “Best of the New” for 2007 and winning Boston Magazine’s coveted “Best of Boston” award for Best Italian Restaurant in 2008.
The deMagistris brothers wanted a place to offer up a more rustic Italian experience. So when a historic firehouse on the same block they grew up on became available, it was the perfect spot. In 2009, they opened il Casale, the name referencing a little country home you’d find on vineyard in the hills of Irpinia.
At il Casale, Chef Dante deMagistris infuses the inspiration of his grandmother’s food and the techniques he learned in his years under the auspices of Michelen Star Chef Don Alfonso in Sant’ Agata sui Due Golfi atop the Sorrentine peninsula. The menu at il Casale is equal parts traditional Italian cuisine and exclusive family classics.
il Casale earned the attention and praise of national and local culinary critics, including being named in Esquire Magazine list of “15 Places Not to Miss”, and earning a three and a half out of four stars from the Boston Globe’s Devra First, an A- from the Boston Herald’s Mat Schaffer, and three Best of Boston awards from Boston Magazine.
il Casale was such a success, the deMagistris brothers opened a second one in Lexington Center in 2014, bringing the same traditional Italian vibe. Just like the Belmont location, il Casale Lexington has become a fixture in town, giving diners further out from the city a warm Italian home they can call their own.
And because the deMagistris brothers spent their younger years both in Italy and in Belmont Center, they couldn’t help but opening up an American neighborhood eatery, The Wellington, across the street from their childhood home in 2018. Offering an eclectic American cuisine, the deMagistris brothers get to pay homage to their American roots. They established The Wellington with the goal of providing a warm inviting space that feels like a homecoming for everyone, whether you drove in from Boston or Concord or from around the corner.
Dante deMagistris - Chef, Co-owner
Damian deMagistris - Director of Operations, Co-owner
Filippo deMagistris - Director of Operations, Co-owner
la famiglia
