By Laura Walter

Cooking a delicious meal is like a piece of art. Watch this cheese bubble and brown and caramelize, the chef says, pointing to a blazing hot oven at Touch of Italy restaurant in Rehoboth Beach.

Thick layers of soft, salty muenster cheese melt beautifully atop a giant piece of chicken parmesan. The chicken is sliced and pounded with precision, the house-made tomato sauce covering every inch. Chef Jaime Reyes adds a plate of spaghetti, a garnish of fresh herbs and a toss of fine parmesan cheese—now it’s a proper chicken parmigiana.

And as for the portion size— “It’s like a hubcap,” laughed Peter Scioli, company culinary director.

Touch of Italy has been a consistent and authentic mainstay of Delaware’s “Culinary Coast.”

“Everything’s handmade and made from scratch,” said Scioli, excited to showcase the cuisine, the building, the ingredients for a business that has grown over the past 15 years, from the first location in Lewes, with another also in Ocean City, Md.

Menu highlights include the bolognaise, Fra Diavolo (with seafood and spicy marinara), specialty meatballs, eggplant rollatini, potato gnocchi, fettuccine alfredo, salmon, fresh salads and more. Evening specials could be anything, including osso buco, a tender veal shank slow-roasted for hours, served in a red wine ragout sauce.

But Touch of Italy isn’t just pasta and red sauce. It’s incredibly fresh deli meat, sliced fresh to order, whether for high-quality lunchtime sandwiches and antipasti (or charcuterie boards, as many would recognize today). House antipasti might feature prosciutto, sweet soppressata, hot capicola, mozzarella, sundried peppers, oil-cured olives, pecorino crotonese (semi-hard sheep’s milk cheese) and a sharp provolone piccante. Many of these ingredients are sourced from Italy or the Bronx’s Little Italy neighborhood.

“We just evolved from a deli to a beautiful restaurant. Our hero sandwiches and our fresh-made mozzarella is pretty much what made this company. We make all our … mozzarella by hand. It goes on our pizzas, on our sandwiches, our antipasti, our caprese salads, lots of our dishes.”

Pizza in the “true Neapolitan style” has the same fresh ingredients as everything else, layers on a gently crispy crust. Scioli believes that Touch of Italy is among the few Delaware restaurants that use a wood-only fired oven for pizzas—one of the chefs even visited Naples to learn the method. Fast forward, and Touch of Italy medaled in the Neapolitan category of a national pie competition.

“Bubbly crusty deliciousness,” said Scioli.

“Who, you?” joked Director of Operations Matt Pfau, as he walked by, heading toward the kitchen.

“Yeah,” Scioli laughed. “Of course.”

Many of the staff have worked together for long enough to feel like family. “[We] take care of each other and have fun doing it: that’s the name of the game,” Scioli said.

The goal is “to put really good food out and make people happy,” he added. “Seeing people enjoying themselves and having a good time, that’s what makes everything worth it.”

“I love this kitchen,” said Chef Reyes. “It’s a very nice place.”

“This whole team is excellent,” Scioli said.

The dining room has an elegant, but rustic feel with white tablecloths, wood décor, stained glass art, classic Italian poster art and Edison bulbs. Frank, Dean and their contemporaries croon over speakers.

People who want literally just a touch of the menu can also swing by the front-of-house market at several locations, with a full dessert case (great after a night out, or on your way in), plus ready-to-heat slabs of lasagna, manicotti, ravioli, chicken cutlets and more. Deli sandwiches are made to order. The market shelves are rounded out with Italian noodles, quarts of marinara sauce and house-brand products.

Desserts include cheesecake (ricotta/citrus or New York Style cream cheese), Italian wedding cookies, cannoli and small cannoli cakes, macaroons, biscotti, giant eclairs and cream puffs.

Demand is such that the restaurant group has invested in a brand new central kitchen to supply all the restaurants on a regular basis. Above the cozy Rehoboth Beach restaurant and market, the second story is bustling with activity. Touch of Italy’s upstairs is a multi-room kitchen space, with multiple rooms, each dedicated to a different process. Mounds of vegetables are prepped for the vats of marinara sauce. Racks of Italian wedding cookies are pulled from the oven. Trays of lasagna are crafted, layer by layer. This allows for a consistent flavor across the nearby restaurants, while easing up prep time for each individual restaurant site.

Also new is The Chef’s Table next door, a standalone event space holding several dozen people for more intimate gatherings, rentals, business meetings and—Scioli’s excited about this one—cooking classes and special dinner events. That includes everything from curated wine/pasta or bourbon/steak dinners to classes on sauce, knife skills, cocktails, fermentation and more. (See www.thechefstablede.com.)

Besides the three Touch of Italy locations, the company leaders have also brought about a bayfront bar in Ocean City and the Royal Prime Steakhouse in Dover.

Touch of Italy restaurants are located on Coastal Highway in Rehoboth Beach, Del., in downtown Lewes, Del., and in midtown Ocean City, Md. Learn more at www.touchofitaly.com, and look for the wintertime specials.