Local Restaurateur Chris Christini Thanks His Lucky Stars

The more things change, the more they stay the same. And that is no truer than today's Orlando restaurant scene. Young lovers and long-time companions alike continue without fail to dot the many tables and rooms of Christini's Ristorante Italiano. Romance fills the air on any given night as couples swoon to the sounds of an accordion and savor their favorite Italian dishes.

The year is 1985: a fledgling Christini's Restaurant buzzes with activity as usual. Arnold Palmer makes an entrance with his wife and a cadre of friends. Hollywood socialites and local power players jump into the fray. As the night progresses and diners dig into their savory veal chops and mouth-watering plates, an older gentleman unassumingly comes through the door. Unlike most patrons at Christini's that night, Bob Hope took his experience in one of the world's most incredible restaurants directly from the table and onto the Johnny Carson show.

The encounter left Chris Christini, and America, with an indelible moment not soon forgotten. The restaurant hurtled into culinary stardom at lightning speed.

Though his initial success in the fine dining industry made Chris Christini a household name among culinary aficionados, his restaurant soon earned a place among the annals of fine dining history. Christini's Restaurant today joins the ranks of 21 Club in New York, the Capital Club in Dubai, Annabel's in London and so many of the greatest restaurants in the world known for the highest quality and service to guests. Not much changes over the years, but the clientele is as diverse in age and demography as ever.

A typical evening at Christini's Restaurant involves a level of sophisticated class and pageantry communicable only to those of the highest caliber taste. But that doesn't mean the establishment's nostalgic ambience serves just a select niche of diners. A magnet for young and old, local and international, Christini's Restaurant beckons all those who recognize the elegance and class of the world's finest dining epicenter. Decades of success, founded on a dedication to the customer, allow the restaurant to flourish amidst the most volatile economy since the Great Recession.

Over the years, this reputation built a stairway to the stars - and for them. Without fail, the world's most famous celebrities and public figures continue to choose Christini's for the class, charm and delectable dishes offered to its patrons, among whom include legends as diverse as Tiger Woods, Mick Jagger, Michael Jordan, Pat Sajak, Rudy Giuliani and Gene Simmons. Though the unique aura and first-class service attracts most, the restaurant's arsenal of cuisine embodies much more than a simple pasta feast. From steaks that cut like butter to the world's rarest caviar, Chris Christini provides diners with a night of salivating memories nothing can possibly erase. After all, what do you expect from a man with fluency in American, Italian, Greek and French cuisines? His expertise didn't spring up from osmosis though. Born into an impoverished but faithfully Orthodox Greco-Italian family in Sparta, Chris Christini knows well life's valleys and summits.

In fact, he worked his way up to reach the American Dream all on his own. His aspirations led him to America's doorstep where he ultimately ascended to the heights of culinary royalty. Upon his initial entrance in the New World, discrimination and low wages seemingly turned the odds against him. But over time, his skill and mastery of the art of dining caught the eye of the country's most prestigious chefs. Christini rose to prominence from a lowly waiter to opening and managing such establishments as 21 Club in New York, the original Four Seasons, Alfredo's of Rome and the grand opening of EPCOT's Italian Pavilion. Gambling his entire family's livelihood, and his stellar reputation, Christini opened his restaurant in 1983, surrounded by nothing but orange groves and two distant subdivisions. The bet served him well, now four decades on.

Without a doubt, Christini's today carries on the legacy of fabled excellence under his guiding tutelage - his reputation, bolstered by prominent and rare commendations such as the Ivy Award in the United States, and his induction into the US Restaurant Hall of Fame, among many others. Only one thing is missing from Christini's Restaurant, and that's you! So drop by and say hello so he can thank YOU, one of his lucky stars.