“I’m a fighter,” Naples restaurateur extraordinaire Vincenzo Betulia, says. “People rely on me. I can’t turn my back on them. I just can’t.”
When the government order to close restaurants came in March, Betulia had 230 employees. He could have shuttered his Osteria Tulia, Bar Tulia and The French restaurants on Fifth Avenue South. Instead, he and his business partners pulled trick after trick to keep the staff supported, along with the local farmers and other community purveyors they deal with. “They knew I was open for business not because I wanted to make money,” he says with conviction. “I could’ve sat on my nest egg. I’m not that person. I needed to provide some normalcy for the community.”
Now, as Betulia gets ready to launch his fourth enterprise—Bar Tulia at Mercato, expected to open by the end of February—he looks back at the three months he worked without a day off to nimbly evolve his businesses to COVID-19 mode. He turned The French into a neighborhood grocery, cooked family-style meals to go, rented a parking lot to expand Tulia’s seating, began bottling then canning craft cocktails, and sold frosé by the quart–all the while donating boxed lunches and teacher gift cards to Naples schools, as well as continuing to pay employee’s health insurance.
The community showed its appreciation for Betulia’s hard work to bring comfort during chaos. It wasn’t unusual to see a $1,000 tip added to a $100 tab, he says. In a couple of weeks, tips amounting to $65,000 were divvied among employees that were furloughed.
In less than a decade, Betulia has solidified his importance in the community. Before opening his first restaurant in Naples in 2013, he headed the kitchen at Campiello on Third Street South for nine years, after working his way up the ladder upon falling in love with Naples during a vacation in 1998. Then came Bar Tulia in 2015 and The French in 2017.
Mercato came to the chef to propose another Bar Tulia in North Naples—the space is planned as a marriage of Tulia, The French and something entirely different that promises once again to redefine Naples dining. “I’m so proud to be a restaurant owner in Naples, Florida,” he says. His innovation, commitment and instincts for creating convivial restaurants and a sense of security have put him in high regard. Now his generosity and caring have made him a local hero.
“I don’t have an option to fail,” he says. “It’s my family of 230.” —C.K.W.