Wednesday, March 3, 2004 | 8:20 a.m.
As Marcus Ritz prepares to work his culinary expertise at his restaurant each day, the gloves come off.
Literally.
In addition to the 12 hours he spends each day at Marc's Authentic Italian Steakhouse, Ritz boxes with a trainer every day at a local gym and spars twice a week.
And that's not just because it keeps him in shape; Ritz used to box as an amateur and he misses the sport. In fact, if cooking hadn't taken hold of him, Ritz might have gone on to a boxing career.
But punching opponents couldn't compare to punching dough for pastas and pizzas at his family's Florida restaurant when he was a kid.
Even though he's only 43, Ritz has already opened two successful restaurants in New York and Florida both of which are still open, although under different management and he's looking forward to opening another food-related business in Las Vegas.
Ritz's enthusiasm quickly becomes apparent when you meet him. He approaches nothing half-heartedly. Even though he wasn't sure boxing was his calling, his determination led to him becoming an amateur Golden Gloves champion in 1984.
It's not at all unusual to see Ritz hopping from table to table at his restaurant every night, drizzling olive oil on everyone's food on request and telling patrons everything they need to know about the food they're about to eat.
Among some customers, Ritz's passion has already become the restaurant's biggest selling point.
"Some guys bring their girls here and say to me, I'm going to get lucky tonight just by the way you talk about the food,'" Ritz said proudly, adding the olive oil he uses is from Italy at $30 a bottle.
"I'm a little crazy," he said.
Maybe but, as he added, "If I can bring the experience of actually dining in Italy to the customer, so much the better."
Florida bound
Ritz grew up in upstate New York, where his father, Donald, worked in bars and restaurants with the dream of someday opening his own restaurant.
For the first 12 years of his life, Ritz and his brothers, Michael and Don Jr., had little exposure to the restaurant business. Their childhoods were filled with sports, and his mother, Marilyn, fully supported their efforts while working part time and going to nursing school.
In 1972 their lives changed forever. Ritz's father had saved up enough money and moved the family to Singer Island, Fla., where he opened Don's Italian Restaurant. He cooked, Marilyn worked as hostess and the boys did whatever else needed to be done.
For Ritz, the most vivid memories were punching dough in a big steel bowl, which was steadied by being placed in a garbage can.
"You had to work with the family. It was your dues," Ritz said. "It seemed like a chore at the time, but now it feels like good times."
Natural talent
While paying his dues, Ritz realized he had a talent for food. He picked up recipes easily, and impressed his father enough that he was preparing meals by the time he was age 17.
"Whenever someone likes something, there's a feeling you get," he said. "If someone gave me a boning knife and said, 'Separate this,' that's what I would do. I wanted to beat it and prove myself to my father."
While attending high school, Ritz realized he was good at something else -- getting into -- and winning -- fights.
"My friends encouraged me to get into boxing," he said. "I didn't take it seriously at first."
Besides, he had other priorities at the time. Due to his rapid learning curve, his father sent him to Grimaldi's Restaurant in upstate New York at age 18 to learn from other seasoned professionals.
"My father wanted to open a second restaurant in Florida, and he wanted to train me to work there," Ritz remembers. "I was there only three months, and I soaked up everything."
The second restaurant, a joint venture between Ritz's father and his attorney, didn't take off. "I don't know what happened," he said. "It closed in two years."
Reel life
Ritz was now 20 and a bit disillusioned about the restaurant industry.
"I was trying to find myself," Ritz said.
He found his direction -- in a movie theater.
"That was the year 'Raging Bull' came out," Ritz said. "That movie inspired me to pursue boxing."
His father, who knew a trainer, set Ritz up, and after the first training session he was hooked.
"I remember my first time in the ring, being afraid," Ritz said. "I knocked the kid out, into the ropes."
For the next four years Ritz entered in 13 tournament fights, building up a respectable record in the 147-pound welterweight class. "I would watch 'Raging Bull' before all my fights," he said.
In 1984 he had a perfect record in the Golden Gloves championship, knocking out nine of his 10 opponents. After his success there he fought in different tournaments, but realized it was time to come back to work.
"It's like being in deep water when you're in the ring," he said. "I worked harder in those four years than I'd ever worked in my life."
True calling
Ritz returned to his father's restaurant in 1984 and stayed there nearly 10 years, although, "I left at least 10 times. I was always more of an entrepreneur."
He opened Marc's Seneca Inn in upstate New York in 1993 and operated it successfully for five years. He then sold it and opened Marc's Chophouse in Florida in 1998.
In 2000 he took a visit to Las Vegas to watch the Fernando Vargas/Felix Trinidad fight.
That visit made an impression, and not just because of the great fight.
"I said, 'This is a place I could do business in,' " Ritz said.
He sold his Florida business in 2001 and established Marc's Restaurant that year.
The restaurant features a spacious waiting area with plush chairs and couches and coffee tables facing the bar. Directly next to it is a separate room for private parties of up to 18. A mural of a farm in Italy gives the room its ambience, and French doors keep out the noise. Ritz built the room's large table himself.
The dining area's tables are surrounded by 12 wood-trimmed booths, and brick walls and terra cotta tile help to cool the area. The kitchen is partly visible from the dining area, and pictures of Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and other Rat Pack members line the walls.
A spacious patio area contains marble-topped tables protected by a canopy, with decorative tile around the windows and door.
Specialities include chicken riggies (chicken breasts tossed with rigatoni pasta, mushrooms, peppers and prosciutto in a white wine garlic cheese sauce), spinach lasagna and steak El Chico (a tenderloin of beef seasoned with Italian herbs and garlic, then quick seared in extra-virgin olive oil with hot peppers, mushrooms, oven-roasted sweet peppers and sliced garlic -- also called "my father's recipe").
His wine list, mostly from Italy but also including Napa Valley, Australia and more, stands at 80 and is currently growing. Ritz plans to expand it every time he takes a wine tour.
"I'm putting seven on (this month)," he said.
Life lessons
The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks affected the entire country, and Ritz was no exception. He opened two weeks before the tragedy, leaving him almost broke.
"I couldn't get a liquor license, and those cost $40,000," he said. "But I stuck it out, and several months later an 'angel' came by and helped me out. He bought my liquor license for me."
He finally got his liquor license Feb. 6, 2002 -- the date he considers the actual opening of his restaurant.
Ritz was soon joined by his two brothers, who had been working at Marc's Chophouse after their father sold his business and retired in 1998. Don Jr. came first, and Michael joined the restaurant mid-year.
And Ritz's parents moved out in early February. "My dad's talking about giving me a week off. He's going to give me and my staff some direction."
With his family helping to take some of the load off, Ritz is already looking toward his next Las Vegas project: a market with an authentic Italian restaurant.
"I want it to be the kind of market where you get the feeling you're in Bologna, Italy," he said. "You'll eat with your eyes while you're there, just like a trattoria. It won't look like this restaurant at all."
And just recently Ritz began offering catering services.
Loving the work
With all his current projects, one Ritz currently has on the back burner is a family.
"That's tough to say, because I'm not in love right now," he said. "I get the satisfaction of doing what I do, and by the time I'm done, all I want to do is go to sleep."
When and if he does start a family, he plans to keep his children out of the restaurant business.
"This is a hard business," he said. "I wouldn't wish this on anybody. I don't ever think I'd teach them to work with me. I would want them to get a great education."
In the meantime, having his own family around him has helped immensely.
"When you're working with family, you're not the boss," he said. "But going to bed and knowing your family's together, that's a beautiful thing."
And Ritz, who eschews awards in favor of customer satisfaction, never tires of positive feedback.
"I get letters saying, 'We had the greatest time,' " he said. "The greatest reward is when I see the same people in that door every day. I am able to express my passion, and if you can do that and pay your bills, that's what it's all about."
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