Over its nearly 80 years, Perillo Tours has built a loyal following with its focus on Italy. Conversations with third-generation owner Steve Perillo reveal some of the reasons for the company’s sustained success and how budding expansion plans will take it beyond its comfort zone.
ROME — Two orders of cacio e pepe and a half-eaten plate of suppli wasn’t going to cut it.
I was two dishes deep into my dinner conversation with “Mr. Italy Jr.” and I needed to get my hands on more valuable information than what I had gotten so far, which was shop talk: prices are up in Europe, finding hotels in Italy is tough, travel advisors are everything.
What I really wanted to know from Steve Perillo, third-generation owner of Perillo Tours, seemed much more urgent: What’s he watching on TV right now? Is he on TikTok? Does he have plants? His thoughts on dog hotels. Fettuccini Alfredo or cacio e pepe?
Those answers eventually came to light over the course of our two-hour dinner at Il Segreto here, where along with the tasty meal we had a hearty, expectedly funny and wildly meandering conversation with a vibe similar to the popular YouTube series “Chicken Shop Date.”
It turns out Perillo is TikTok-curious; he’s obsessed with hydroponic gardening and the proud owner of a new AeroGarden; he’s plotting his entrance into the dog hotel market and wonders what the competition is like; and most importantly, he’s team cacio e pepe.
Our conversation touched on everything from family to cooking to his personal observation that people might just be getting a little nicer in the world.
But it was Perillo who asked me the all-important TV show question: “Are you watching ‘Ripley’?” he said with the casual seriousness people adopt moments before revealing just how much they love their favorite show on TV.
“No,” I replied about the hit Netflix show that was nevertheless on my list to watch. The latest adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s novel “The Talented Mr. Ripley” is set in southern Italy.
“This is where my family comes from — Sorrento, Maiori, Positano, Salerno, Naples,” Perillo said, almost gushing in what felt like a rare sentimental moment coming from someone I know to be deeply and hilariously deadpan. “That whole Neapolitan feeling [of “Ripley”] — I just love it. You would like it.”
And indeed, I have. I’ve enjoyed the first few episodes and the set-jetting wanderlust it conjures in me. But I also enjoyed actually seeing southern Italy for myself on my first trip with Perillo Tours, which kicked off from the Eternal City the day after our dinner.
Mr. Italy pays a visit
Perillo had flown here to meet me for the first couple of days of the 10-day Vesuvius Tour I joined in late April. The trip starts in the capital and visits Sorrento and Florence, making stops in Pompeii, Capri and Venice along the way.
He said he only visits Italy about three times a year, a seemingly small number for someone nicknamed Mr. Italy Jr. (The original Mr. Italy was Steve’s father, Mario Perillo, the late second-generation owner of the 79-year-old company.)
Perillo’s infrequent Italy visits make his appearances on tours all the more special for guests, tour guides and the company’s longtime supplier partners. That much was evident on my tour when Perillo greeted guests and joined them for dinner at Meo Patacca, a lively medieval-themed restaurant in Trastevere that Perillo Tours has been bringing travelers to for more than 40 years.
They were pleasantly surprised to be meeting the man who has graced small screens across the New York tri-state area for decades, promoting vacations to Italy in local commercials, just as his father did for years before him.
A couple from North Carolina introduced themselves to Perillo during dinner, telling him how they’d discovered Perillo Tours through the staunch recommendation of friends and how much they were already enjoying the trip, all of which Perillo seemed humbled by and appreciative to hear.
Even our tour director, Irene Capano, had only met Perillo two or three times over the course of her 17-year career with Perillo Tours. Her last run-in with him happened to be earlier this year, in March, just a few weeks prior to the tour we were on.
Seeing a window of opportunity, Capano decided to pitch an idea to Perillo at dinner about adding a short cruise element to itineraries that visit the southern part of Italy, particularly the Amalfi Coast.
“The idea is to spend a few days on a yacht where you can really enjoy the experience of this place from both perspectives — the mainland and the ocean,” Capano said to Perillo.
Intrigued by the possibility of adding yacht experiences to Amalfi Coast and other southern Italy itineraries, Perillo grew increasingly starry-eyed as Capano spoke. He peppered her with follow-up questions about small-ship companies to partner with, the wheels clearly turning in his head.
“That’s the best idea I’ve ever heard,” Perillo said — something he said more than once that night, I might add.
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