Scorpio's in Attleboro Keeping Italy in Italian Food

Elisabetta Costantini, owner and operator of Scorpio's in Attleboro, has been in the restaurant business all her life, and her experience is the driving factor behind the downtown hotspot.

A native of Italy, Costantini leased the space for Scorpio's two years ago. Before that, she worked in Providence's Federal Hill at Vira Roma. Before that, she helped out at her grandmother's restaurant in Italy.

"It was kind of a family business," she said. "I grew up there."

After 12 years of working in Federal Hill, she decided to start her own business.

"My parents had owned two Scorpio's in Florida, and my brother said, 'Why are you working for someone else? Why aren't you working for yourself?'" she said. "So I just did."

Costantini said all her restaurant recipes came from the cookbook of her grandmother Lucia Milano.

"With the exception of the Americanized food … we make to accommodate American pallets," she said. "Everything else is her recipe."

Costantini said the key to her grandmother's cooking was simplicity of ingredients. She said this is the case in many Italian regions, but she added that every region is different and unique more in the way the ingredients are put together.

"My grandmother said anything over five ingredients is a waste," Costantini said.

Although she has made a life in the restaurant business, Costantini said she had no desire to get into cooking when she was growing up in Italy.

"I didn't like it very much when I was younger," she said. "The older I got, it just seemed like it was the thing I was meant to do."

Costantini said she learned to cook from her mother and grandmother.

"I have six younger brothers and they're all pretty decent cooks too," she said.

Costantini said the move to Attleboro from Federal Hill was quite a change, but she said she felt it was the right thing to do.

"We had a number of folks say that it was not a good idea to open here," she said. "I'm glad I didn't listen to them. Attleboro is beautiful. The mayor's doing a wonderful job … the streetlights, the parks, the streetscapes—he's just doing a very good job of it."

Scorpio's is located at 55 Park St. in Attleboro. It is open Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Friday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.