Three Sisters Pizzeria, Miramare Italiano, and Hop & Rye
Driven by Passion and Created with Love
Habersham continues to grow and provide more and more to the community. You can’t think of Habersham without thinking of Chef Luca, Cory, and their three restaurants: Three Sisters Pizzeria, Miramare Italiano, and Hop & Rye.
Chef Luca Caretti and his fiancé, Cory Pope, met nine years ago in Pennsylvania and have been inseparable ever since. Their work relationship has been an extension of their personal relationship. Luca and Cory moved to North Carolina to be closer to Chef Luca’s father, who has lived in the states for 26 years now. After working together for years, Chef Luca and Cory were looking to find a restaurant that they could invest in that was a good fit for them. They spent four years living in North Carolina until they found out about Habersham through their wine representative in Myrtle Beach.
They made their way down to Beaufort and fell in love with the Habersham community. A year later, they opened Three Sisters Pizzeria; six months later, they made a deal for their fine dining Italian restaurant, Miramare Italiano, and eight weeks ago, they opened their bar, Hop & Rye. All three excellent restaurants are located in the quaint downtown of Habersham.
Chef Luca was born in Hershey, PA, and raised in Monte di Procida, Naples, Italy. His grandparents owned a restaurant there, Miramare, and he learned everything from them. He started spending time in their kitchen at only two years old, and continued watching and learning through his childhood. Luca graduated with a chef certification. Since opening in Habersham, Chef Luca has become a household name in Beaufort due to his delicious meals from one of the restaurants.
Cory has been in the restaurant industry since he was 14. He started as a dishwasher at an Italian restaurant. He was eventually pulled off dishwashing and bussing because he kept getting caught talking to customers. He began serving at age 16. He moved to New York when he was 18, started training for mixology, and became a mixologist at 25. Cory has always been a sponge and has gotten where he is today by listening.
Luca and Cory met when Cory was 26, and after two years, they knew they had something to offer the world, so they became a package deal.
Habersham has changed their life. It has become a family to them. They have been able to open three restaurants in two years—and two of those restaurants were opened in the middle of COVID-19.
Luca and Cory have three restaurants:
Three Sisters Pizzeria is a lovely little pizza shop. They offer authentic Neapolitan pizza, along with subs, salads, beer, and wine. They have just released a new and extended menu.
Miramare Italiano provides Habersham and the surrounding area with a fine Italian dining experience, featuring classic European style dining. One of their most popular drinks is The Shakertini, a shaker full of martini. They serve classic pasta dishes made from over 50-year-old recipes. (When Chef Luca’s grandmother heard that they were opening an Italian restaurant, she offered them the name Miramare since her restaurant in Italy had been closed since 2005.)
Hop & Rye is their newest venture in Habersham. It is a gastropub that offers delicious pub fare, live music, steak night, and many more events to come in the future.
Cory handles all the front-of-house details — he does the design work, service style, creates the outfits, and oversees the entire company while Luca handles all food service, ordering, kitchen development, menus, etc.
Luca’s dad has a saying: “My son is the heart that beats in the business, and Cory is the lungs that breathe.”
Cory and Luca attribute their belief in God, sacrifice, and will to how they have come so far. They are proud of the work they have done in Habersham to provide people with a place that feels like family. They want everyone to enter their restaurants and be able to just relax and be themselves.
Their future goals are to expand the pizzeria, possibly franchising. They will be getting married in April and hope to grow a family in the future. Above all, they hope that everyone knows that “everything we do is with our hearts and love for people. It is driven by passion and created with love.”
