Photos courtesy of polipoaugusta.com

So often Italian food is thought of for only special occasions: homemade pasta, fine wine, authentic dishes. Kevin Goldsmith’s new project — Trattoria Polipo — is setting out to change that.

After selling the local staple Takosushi and taking a step back, he realized he wanted a great Italian place that he could rely on for a good dinner. With an established career in business ownership and restaurant design, he was well qualified to take many of the same concepts from Takosushi and apply them to Trattoria Polipo. Goldsmith carefully planned the dining room layout, making sure there were heaters for the patio, curated an affordable wine selection and found the perfect person as the head chef.

Nate Lindsay is exactly what Trattoria Polipo needed. He and Goldsmith spent the better part of the pandemic dialing in the menu, and each credits the other for the restaurant’s success. 

“This is Kevin’s vision,” says Lindsay. Goldsmith claims, “I’m not a chef. I’m a businessman that cooks,” lauding Lindsay’s talents. “Nate and I cooked together and tweaked recipes and had dinners at my house for almost two years. By the time we opened, we’d tried everything 100 times.”

Since opening, Goldsmith has been mostly hands-off. “I will not take a penny from this. I will take a percent of the profits, but it’s all donated and given back to the community,” he says. 

Lindsay has taken the helm in the back of the house, keeping the standards high with sauces made from scratch, octopus grilled to perfection, house-made pasta and more. When asked if he had a favorite dish, he admits, “I have ingredients that are my favorites — our meatballs, our sausage, our focaccia, it’s all so good.” And the regulars who come back time and again agree.

Goldsmith has built a beautiful space and a team with a vested interest in the success of Trattoria Polipo. Lindsay’s dream for the restaurant? That it would be “a family-friendly, comfortable, not overly pretentious place with good food, a place to appreciate the atmosphere and who you’re sitting with.”

Seen in the February/March 2024 issue of Augusta magazine.