Agreat restaurant can feel like a precious stone waiting to be unearthed. Many, though, have excavated culinary treasures dispersed along the quasi-strip mall landscape that runs the entirety of Edgewood Drive in the center of town. At Scarpa’s Italian, the local community has found a jewel, regularly filling seats and reservation lists for the Lakeland staple.

Chef Andrew Kippley of Scarpa’s being voted Best Chef  by Lakelanders (check out the entire issue of Lakelander’s Choice winners) came as a surprise to him, but the fact the restaurant has long been beloved can’t be disputed. In fact, speak with many long-time Lakelanders, and they will evoke loving nostalgia for Mario’s Restaurant, which sat in the same location more than 15 years ago, owned by the Scarpa family—yes, the same Scarpa family behind the restaurant that is still thriving today.

For the chef who has run the kitchen for most of this iteration, it was still shocking for him to be voted “Best Chef” by Lakelanders. He doesn’t fit into the mold of a traditional chef as far as training goes. He does not look for the spotlight, shows a great deal of humility, and does not outwardly promote the restaurant on social outlets to excess. That does not mean a deep passion for the community and its culture is missing.

In conversation, the 38-year-old chef speaks candidly on his personal background, his influences, life before food paid the bills, his roles in the kitchen, and the family-owned nature of the business he is immersed in.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

The Lakelander

It was hard to find a lot of information on you to get a sense of your path to becoming a head chef before we spoke, so share a little bit about yourself.

Andrew Kippley

It’s kind of a funny story, honestly. I started out as a landscaper and had a 4-year degree. I was stuck doing lawns for 12 years. The thing is, I always loved cooking my entire life, but it was always on the back burner. For most of my 20s I wasn’t a good cook. And then it just clicked one day for me. I worked at a Steak ‘n Shake for a bit and then at an Italian deli after that before moving to Lakeland. One day (13 years ago), I literally answered a Craigslist ad, as they were looking for part-time work at the restaurant for their opening. I joke with Glenn (Scarpa) that I was the last great Craigslist hire.

TL

Were you hired right off the street as head chef?

Kippley

No, but I moved right up the ranks, starting as a part-timer working 20 hours a week watching the oven, making sure the bread didn’t burn, and the cheese was nice and brown. Through the years, people left; I moved up, learning the different station positions, waiting out some time working and learning a lot from the other great chefs that came before me to get where I am. And here I am today as the head chef.

TL

Going back to your landscaping days and, even prior to that, is there a specific person or something else that influenced your culinary point of view?

Kippley

It was absolutely my mother. I don’t care if Gordon Ramsay came in to cook me dinner—I would rather have my mother’s cooking. She was always very caring. Even when I would make horrible anniversary dinners as a kid, she would always smile, always eat whatever it was, however bad it was, and be supportive of my cooking. I also used to watch Julia Childs on PBS and “Iron Chef” when it was still only in Japanese with subtitles.

TL

Part of a restaurant’s appeal is in the quality of ingredients. Scarpa’s is well known for their fresh-made pasta. Was knowing how to make pasta a prerequisite for getting the gig?

Kippley

Most of the staff already knew how to make that Grandma-style pasta with flour and eggs in a well, mixing the dough by hand. But making pasta fresh was incorporated a few years in, in efforts to not only stay relevant but also to keep us moving forward as cooks. We make it in small batches to give the freshest product possible. While we enjoy innovating by creating new experiences, sometimes new means taking a step back and bringing people to the roots of cooking.

TL

Is the kitchen at this point in a place where everyone has their own dedicated roles and stations, and you oversee, not needing to cook day in and day out?

Kippley

No, no. I am literally still right on the line with my team in the thick of it all, 5 days a week, and I love it. I’m on the sauté section today; I’ll be cooking next to all these great cooks. That might be one of the reasons why maybe people don’t know what I look like? I personally am usually in the back. Being a family-run place, I’m not in a position where I can go out, don the clean chef’s jacket, and shake hands when you’re in the thick of it every night.

“I don’t care if Gordon Ramsay came in to cook me dinner—I would rather have my mother’s cooking. She was always very caring. Even when I would make horrible anniversary dinners as a kid, she would always smile, always eat whatever it was, however bad it was, and be supportive of my cooking. ” – Andy Kippley, Head Chef at Scarpa’s Italian

TL

I like to think Scarpa’s has more of a family dynamic, which adds to keeping expectations high as a diner; I feel that is why Scarpa’s has such firm staying power, and it could be what Lakeland needs more of. Do you agree?

Kippley

A personal investment certainly adds to consistency in the restaurant. Having hands-on owners who really care about the customer experience and, on top of that, close-knit staff. To tell you the truth, most of the staff over the years has been the same; even over the last 20 or 30 years, they’ve gone from working for Glenn’s father at Mario’s to working for Glenn here in the same location. Not only are they going to recognize you, remember your name, and the kitchen staff will call out what you will order before you even look at a menu, or your waiter may offer that bottle of wine you enjoy regularly, but you will also start to recognize the staff as you come in more often, creating that extended family feel.

TL

Since you’ve been with the restaurant for a good amount of time, you have since developed a trust with the owners; thinking about those early times when they first started giving you leeway with the menu, do you remember one of those early recipes you developed?

Kippley

One of the first things I made for the restaurant on my own was when we had just lost our head chef. He was an unbelievable chef. I remember staying late one night after service and coming up with a sort of mango Swiss cake roll with a meringue outer shell. And I can remember Glenn and Ashley Scarpa calling me on my phone because they knew I was working late, asking what I was up to, and I said, ‘This is what I want to do; we need to keep this going.’ I would say that was the first time I felt like they trusted me enough to allow the reins to be taken off. From there, I was determined that if I was going to create something, it wouldn’t suck. It was the turning point of my career.

TL

When I look at the menu, it’s put together very well; it’s got a lot of the greatest hits, in my opinion. But if you could re-purpose something on the current menu, how would you reinvent it?

Kippley

I’ve actually done this dish a few times when I make a seafood lasagna. We’ve sold this before, and it goes over really well. It’s a béchamel-based sauce instead of a marinara, with a bunch of different seafood in there, then seasoned with some tarragon.

TL

Are you able to find things from Florida to make their way onto the menu?

Kippley

We used a lot of the local fish, shrimp, and produce. If we use lobster in a dish, we will use a Florida spiny lobster. We don’t get lobsters from Maine. Anything we can get our hands on that’s locally sourced, per se, from the area or in the Gulf, we try to obtain that over anything else.

TL

In an effort to spark controversy, do you prefer the Caribbean Spiny Lobster or a New England Clawed Lobster?

Kippley

Even though I grew up initially in the Northeast in Syracuse, NY, I have to go with Spiny Lobster. I think they have a better flavor.

TL

You were awarded best head chef, which means that the people in Lakeland, you know, they seem to like you. How are you endearing yourself to the people here?

Kippley

I connect to them by food. I don’t do a lot of promotion by any means. It surprised me that anyone even knew my name to vote for me. I was really taken aback when Ashley (Scarpa) called and gave me the news. It was truly touching because, when you don’t think anyone even knows who you are, because I’m just a chef. Then I learned what happened, that I was a write-in and won when I didn’t even know that there was voting going on. So, winning this award for me is a great accomplishment I can add to my career.

TL

I have to imagine winning an award for something you didn’t know you were nominated for is so much more rewarding than trying to win by influencing a vote.

Kippley

Especially when it comes to someone enjoying your cooking. It’s personal and creative, but it’s also about individual preference. It’s not like you’re running for office. And when the majority of people like what you do, it’s a really great feeling. And the fact that they like my food makes me feel even better.

TL

I know this is a pretty generic question, but it’s one I like hearing the answer to. What’s the one dish that you enjoy making or think is best, but is more slept on by your guests?

Kippley

I think the linguine & clams with the white wine sauce is the most slept-on thing in our restaurant. I think it has some of the best flavor out of all our dishes. It has a white wine butter sauce we incorporate the clam juice in, with our own special blend of herbs and lots of garlic.