Bites Nearby: A Venue for Pasta and Patriotism at Vicino Restorante
Italian restaurant in downtown Silver Spring is a classic American story.
The name tells most visitors the kind of food they will see on the menu at Vicino Ristorante Italiano. The music playing and paintings and posters on the walls are big clues. But the host they see welcoming them into his modest space at 959 Sligo Avenue still stirs the curiosity of some diners. "A lot of times people will come and ask, 'A black guy from Africa with an Italian restaurant?' I will answer, 'Only in America,'" said John Eshun, owner of Vicino. The native of Ghana never dreamed of opening a restaurant when he was growing up in Africa. He arrived in the U.S. in 1974. The inspiration took root when he got a job at Pines of Rome in Bethesda. Eshun worked his way up from a dishwasher to a waiter and fell in love with the simplicity…
Phyllis Armstrong
3:13 pm on Thursday, July 12, 2012
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