Caminito Argentinean Steakhouse

Caminito Argentinean Steakhouse was opened in December of 2002 by previous owner, and Argentinean native Luciano Sappia.  Caminito was themed after Sappia's home, the brightly multi-colored port neighborhood found in La Boca, Buenos Aires.  Northampton, MA is truly the perfect location from a restaurant themed on such a diverse and eclectic area.  The original menu at Caminito was a more traditional and all encompassing, consisting largely of Sappia's favorite dishes from his home country.  It was during this time that Joseph M. Gionfriddo came on board as Chef and fell in love with Argentinean cuisine.

While working for Sappia, Joseph soon realized that the true pride of Argentinean cookery is their famous wood-fired grilling.  This stands to reason as Argentina is the world's biggest consumer and producer of beef.  Another source of Argentinean pride is their red wines, in particular Malbec, Argentina's famous red grape.  So, when ownership changed hands during the Summer of 2006, the first thing that changed was the name to Caminito Argentinean Steakhouse.

It has since been a labor of love and a true pleasure, exposing the people of Western Mass to the amazing depth of flavor found in simple, yet elegant Argentine inspired wood-fired steaks paired with Argentinean red wine.  It truly is a perfect combination.

Joseph later joined forces and partnered with long-time friend and entreprenuer, Justin Levy.  Justin's experience with innovative marketing techniques such as social media have helped to expose Caminito to a much broader group of people. 

Now, the combination of Joseph and Justin are proud to say that they offer the finest steakhouse dining in Western Mass and they boast the areas largest Argentinean wine selection.  So, stop in and experience for yourself the difference in flavor that an Argentine style wood-fired steak is famous for and we are sure that once you do you will hooked for life, just like we are.

If you would like to learn more about the Caminito Argentinean Steakhouse, please check out this video.  If you can't see the video, you can also find it on our YouTube channel.

 

Joseph M. Gionfriddo, Owner/Executive Chef

Chef/Owner Joseph M. Gionfriddo is a Northampton MA, native born here in 1981.  Joseph's passion for grilling began with the backyard grill at his parent's house.  Joseph was known in his youth for throwing legendary backyard barbeques.  Joseph has been working in restaurants for over twelve years, and over that time has worked in several fine restaurants in the Pioneer Valley learning the basics of American, French, and Italian cuisine. 

At the age of 21 Joseph had the privilege of training under Chef Maryann Salcedo, Sous Chef to Gordon Ramsey, on Fox's hit TV show Hell's Kitchen.  Joseph credits Chef Salcedo with refining his cooking style to that of an executive chef.  Joseph began working at Caminito in 2003, and in 2006 took over ownership, changing the official name from Caminito Argentinean Restaurant to Caminito Argentinean Steakhouse.  Joseph has since strived to provide the quality of steaks and wine that you would find in a top steakhouse in Argentina. 

Joseph is a true lover of all things food, and a wine enthusiast.  He is also an outdoorsman, gardener, and food writer as well as an avid fisherman and golfer.  In the warm months when he is not behind the grill Joseph can usually be found at Pine Grove golf course, or occasionally when time permits, out to sea fishing for Stripers.  During the winter he is most often found on the Connecticut River Oxbow persuing his ultimate passion, ice fishing for trophy Northern Pike. 

Joseph describes his cooking style as simplistic, steak house style elegance, letting quality ingredients prepared simply using Argentine techniques, speak for themselves.

Justin Levy, Partner/General Manager

Justin began his career in the restaurant industry at the age of 15 when he began cleaning tables at Paisano's Restaurant in Southampton, MA. He quickly moved through the ranks and learned every aspect of the restaurant under the mentorship of owner and successful restaurateur Constantine Sierros.

After moving away to college, Justin left the restaurant business while focusing on his studies and involvement with various philanthropic ventures. Following college, he became back involved with the restaurant industry working with Chili's in Simsbury, CT.

In March 2008, Justin joined the Caminito team to help his best friend, Joseph, better market the restaurant.  Through the use of social media marketing techniques, Caminito has successfully grown at least 20% in sales every month for nearly two years straight.  Because of this success, Caminito has been featured in multiple business and marketing books as well as being profiled by some of the most successful marketing blogs in the world.

By day, Justin is also the General Manager at New Marketing Labs, a new media marketing agency.  In this role Justin helps large and mid-sized businesses navigate the unknown seas of new media marketing including how to use social media tools, blogs, community platforms, and listening tools to drive business value.  Justin and his team help their clients to move the needles that they care about moving using these new and emerging resources.  Clients include: Sony, PepsiCo, Microsoft, Citrix, Titleist, Molson Coors, Bresnan Communications and Fancast.

For more information about Justin, please visit his personal About page.

For media inquiries, please contact:

Justin Levy
7 Old South Street
Northampton, MA 01060

email: jlevy@caminitosteakhouse.com
office: 781-821-6750
cell: 617-365-6462