By Carol Kinsley
A meal at Benvenuto Restaurant in Milford, Delaware, is more than fine dining. It is a destination, a Tuscan-inspired experience celebrating a four-generations-long friendship between an American and an Italian family. Benvenuto specializes in fine wines, and the food is all made from scratch with fresh ingredients inspired by Tuscan traditions— steaks cooked to perfection, custom cut rib eyes and filets, lobster tail stuffed with jumbo lump crab…
Benvenuto is not usually open on Sundays, but will serve an Easter brunch on April 5 and Mother’s Day brunch on May 10. The restaurant hosts a number of interesting and different events throughout the year.
Bring back memories of dining at the Historic Banking House Inn in Milford on May 1 when favorite foods prepared by Chef Benny Bendistis and Chef Jesus Valentino Gordiany will be featured.
Enjoy authentic dishes from Churchill Downs while watching the 152nd running of the Kentucky Derby on May 2. On May 9, there is a special Mother’s Day Wine Dinner Event in memory of Lisa’s mother and in honor of all mothers. Foot Light Productions from Lewes will present “Massacre on the Murderkill River” Mystery Dinner on July 10.
Thursdays are Wine Club Night. Membership of $100 per year entitles you to weekly private tastings, special dinners, discounts on wines and rewards on food purchases. “We have a sophisticated group of wine tasters,” Lisa said. Members also are invited on special outings throughout the year.
Every Wednesday through Friday brings Early Night Dining Specials from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Current promotions include a “Spirit of the Month” special for the bourbon, whiskey, Scotch and tequila connoisseurs.
For those who dine at the Bolgheri Village Bar, there’s a complimentary S’mores Station which can be upgraded to a Boujee S’mores Station. Friday Flight Night offers discounts on four different wines or spirits to experience different tasting profiles.
On June 5, there is a Tropical Cigar Dinner event at Benvenuto’s offsite property, Sunset Cove, featuring Smoked Prime Rib and a Seafood Buffet. Sunset Cove is the tropical oasis where “Benvenuto” (the Italian word for “welcome”) all began. Many events have been held there since 2007 and in 2019, after many requests from guests to open a restaurant, the opportunity was realized.
The story of Benvenuto begins in Livorno, Italy, where Lisa’s parents lived for 11 months in 1955 when her father was in the U.S. Army. They became close friends with the Cortesi family, as did Lisa, her husband, Walton “Poncho” Johnson III, and their son, Colby. The two families have traveled back and forth between continents for visits.
Lisa, a decorator/designer by trade, created four Tuscan cities within the restaurant: Lucca, Livorno, Firenze (Florence), and the Bolgheri Village. Walking through the restaurant, guests feel as though they are in these special destinations. Dinner Passports reward guests for dining in each of the cities.
After a year of demolition and renovation, Benvenuto opened on Feb. 13, 2020. A month later, COVID restrictions closed the restaurant. Take-out orders were made available on weekends in May, and Benvenuto reopened with limited seating restrictions on June 4.
Lisa said they had only wanted a 100-seat restaurant. They had prayed about everything, asking God, “If this is where you want us to be, make the path straight. If not, stop us.” The fire marshal’s maximum was 338 occupants, so with COVID 25% capacity rules, they were allowed 84 guests. “That was the minute we knew why we were where we were. We could not have survived serving 25 guests at a time,” Lisa said.
The Johnsons had known Chef Jesus for three years and asked him to be their Executive Chef. He had begun his culinary career at age 14, working in some of the finest restaurants in the East before studying at The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College in Philadelphia. Jesus and his wife, Renee, accepted the offer, relocating to Delaware in 2020.
Over the years, Jesus has done lots of television, radio and online training seminars. He was a contestant on FOX’s Hells Kitchen with Gordon Ramsay, which he left unexpectedly, saying, “I’ve been cooking all my life. You’re not going to play games with my cooking.” Jesus also has his own cooking show segment twice a month on WBOC’s DelmarvaLife and weekly on WRDE’S Coastlife.
“We serve the best meats and seafood we can buy,” Lisa said. Steaks are hand cut by Chef Jesus and trimmings from the beef tenderloins become ground beef for lasagna, bolognese, meatballs, etc.
The wine list focuses mainly on selections from Italy but includes wines from around the world. Each wine is purposefully selected to enhance each guest’s total dining experience. “We try to have wines in stock that are not available in other places,” Lisa said. The restaurant won Wine Spectator “Award of Excellence” in 2022, 2023 and 2024, and “Best of Award of Excellence” in 2025 — the only restaurant in the state to receive that award in 2025. Benvenuto has also been honored as “Best of Delaware” by Delaware Today in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025. In 2022 Lisa received the celebrated “Women in Business” award presented by Delaware Today and Delaware Business Times.
Benvenuto’s master mixologist is Brian Van Flandern, a world-renowned mixologist, spirits historian, industry influencer and cocktail book author who has been called America’s Top Mixologist by The FoodNetwork. Van Flandern has worked with Benvenuto since 2021.
Lisa said, “He trained our mixologist; he trains our whole service staff. They have to know how each cocktail is created. They can’t just think a cocktail is thrown together. Every pour gets measured because you have to have consistency. It’s like cooking. One wrong measure of an ingredient can mess up the entire dish.”
Signature cocktails are developed by Van Flandern and on-staff Mixologist and Beverage Director, Samantha Gray. The two have collaborated to create a fresh juice cocktail program with a unique variety of food-friendly cocktails exclusive to Benvenuto.
Private events and celebrations are welcomed at Benvenuto. “We do not cater out,” Lisa said, “but Chef Jesus will prepare take-out orders for your occasion from a special menu, even a luncheon for large parties, although the restaurant is not open for lunch.”
For a truly special dining experience, a Finer Dining menu is available in the “City of Livorno” dining room which must be reserved at least a week ahead. You can enjoy your favorite music on the baby grand piano and a five-course dining experience with delicacies served in restaurants years ago such as beef wellington, chateaubriand, escargot and caviar. These must be ordered ahead because they are not regularly kept in stock. This special evening incorporates table side service by Chef Jesus who may even prepare Bananas Flambé at your table.
The newest addition at Benvenuto is the signature “Taste of Tuscany” line of coffee: four flavor profile coffees, specially created to match the restaurant’s four cities by Wanda Guyton of Coffee Rendezbrew in Rehoboth Beach. Van Flandern and Gray also developed Signature Coffee Cocktails, and Chef Jesus came up with four Signature Desserts to pair with each city’s coffee and coffee cocktail.
There’s plenty to experience at Benvenuto. See more at https://benvenuto-restaurant.
Note that all reservations must be made by phone at 302-265-2652.
The address is 249 North East Front Street, Milford. Hours are Wednesday through Saturday from 4 to 9 p.m.
