Meet Deanna Marandola | Restaurant Owner / Chef

We had the good fortune of connecting with Deanna Marandola and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Deanna, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
My business partner Tracy and I worked together bartending at another local business (Kleos and Rosalina) we started talking and discussing foods and drinks and our love for creating new recipes and cocktails. She had lived in LA and wanted to bring that style of eating to RI seeing there wasn’t anything like that here. We started to collaborate, made a name, an Instagram, and from there started doing pop ups in local spots for a few years and especially over the pandemic. We made a little name for ourselves before opening our brick and mortar.
 

What should our readers know about your business?
Amaryllis is globally influenced farm to table. We change with the seasons keeping the menu new and fresh so we or anyone else doesn’t get bored . We work with many local farms while Tracy has her community garden in the summer as well. Three years in and its been exciting but not always easy being the creators, chefs, servers, dishwashers and accountants… but we get through the challenges to be able to do our passion for a living, I don’t think anyone opens a business expecting it to be easy you have to be up for the challenge. At Amaryllis we are learning new things everyday from our guest and community as well as challenging ourselves to try different things and learning everything we can about cuisines and cultures so we can bring that to our guests at Amaryllis.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
The Community of Downtown Providence definitely deserves a shoutout all the local restaurants and shops build the community and are so supportive of one another. Our former employers Lauren and Tom Bovis truly are supportive and are great mentors when we have any business like concerns, questions, or just need a cup of ice! Bar owners like JR who hired us to do pop ups in the middle of a pandemic really helped us learn and grow. Jerry from Eno Fine Wines who gave us a shot and let us open our little concept in his space!

Instagram: amaryllisri

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amaryllisri/

Image Credits
Amaryllis RI Deanna Marandola and Tracy Defusco