L’incontro is an Italian word that means, “The Meeting Place.”
Located in Lake Wales, the heart of central Florida, is L’incontro Restaurant, “A Place Where People Gather to Enjoy Classic Italian Food.”
Our family’s interest in Italian cuisine began in the 1960s when my uncle immigrated to the United States. He worked hard to bring other family members to the States to live the American dream. Now, our family includes about 160 people, mostly living in New York and Florida.
Four of my uncles are now Italian cuisine chefs or own their own restaurants. Through the years they have cooked for many famous people. Oprah Winfrey, the President of France, and other well-known celebrities have enjoyed their old world-style dishes that showcase the variety and distinct characteristics of Italy’s regional cuisines.
At L’incontro, our chefs are passionate about cooking. It’s what they love to do, and we want you to enjoy it. Using traditional recipes and methods, our sauces, dressings, mozzarella and special dishes are prepared with the best-quality, freshest ingredients available. Here, everything is made to order.
L’incontro is family owned Chef Jose and General Manager Alex. We’ve all been doing this for a long time for other restaurants—now, we do it for ourselves!
Prior to opening L’incontro Chef Jose cooked at restaurants such as Jardino, Novanta, Vivolo, IL Sogno, La Pergola di Taormina, Cafe Fiorello, and Mandarin Oriental in NYC. During the 25+ years experience as a chef he earned the knowledge of how to run a top-notch Italian cuisine kitchen.
We want you to enjoy your experience and hope L’incontro will become your favorite culinary meeting place.
Alex Barrera, General Manager
L’incontro Italian Restaurant
“The journey from humble beginnings of washing dishes in fine Italian restaurants to owning an Italian restaurant hasn’t been easy…but it’s definitely been worth it.”
Special thanks to chefs Raynaldo, Claudio Scaduto, Piero Premodi, Stefano Cordova, Donato and Nicholas Zest.