Ristorante Bartolotta in Wauwatosa is closing for remodeling Monday, will re-open in mid-June

Ristorante Bartolotta in Wauwatosa, the fine-dining Italian restaurant in the Bartolotta Restaurants empire, will close for about a month so the restaurant can be refreshed and a new kitchen can be installed.

Sunday will be its last day of service until mid-June. The restaurant at 7616 W. State St., which was the first that brothers Joe and Paul Bartolotta opened, marked its 25th anniversary this year.

With the anniversary, the building lease renewed for another 10 years, and with the recent streetscape work in Wauwatosa's village shopping district, where the restaurant stands, the time was right to update the restaurant, Joe Bartolotta indicated. 

"It's a big undertaking," he said.

The changes represent a nearly $400,000 investment in the restaurant.

Changes include new kitchen equipment, such as a ventilation hood and Hestan stove.

"We really wanted to up our game in the kitchen," Bartolotta said. The remodeled kitchen will allow longtime chef Juan Urbieta to add regional Italian dishes that will move on and off the menu. 

Many of the changes to Ristorante will be drawn from a trip last year to Italy. Joe and Jennifer Bartolotta met up with Paul Bartolotta in the fall in Florence, where Paul's wife, Robbie, and daughter, Giulia, live full-time while Giulia attends music school. 

"Let's make this place a little more Italian," Joe Bartolotta said, recounting the brothers' discussions.

That means everything from the logo, redesigned to look more like a traditional Italian sign, to the servers' uniforms — still black pants, white shirt and apron, but in a more fitted cut.

The Bartolottas found an Italian linen for the restaurant's napkins that will stand up to commercial use; and new plates are from Ginori, an Italian china-maker. 

There'll be new tile, upholstery, lights and wallpaper, and the bathrooms will be entirely remodeled and will be more accessible for patrons with disabilities.

A few updates already have taken place. The dining room has new paint and curtains, for instance, and the bar has been redone.

Despite the changes, the brothers intend to keep the atmosphere of Ristorante, a close-quarters dining room in a Cream City brick building at Harwood Ave.

"It's such a warm little restaurant," Joe Bartolotta said. "It feels like a neighborhood trattoria."

The restaurant group owns restaurants including Lake Park Bistro, Bacchus, Mr. B's steakhouse and Northpoint Custard and caters at venues including the Grain Exchange.