Behind the covered
window front in
downtown Vidalia, Kris
Eisenhut was making
headway on renovations
for his new restaurant. Just
outside, Vidalia business owner, Anita Estroff,
curiously wandered by on the sidewalk. Her
daily walk included a new habit of catching
sneak peaks at the mysterious restaurant.
Despite her best guess, she had no clue who
the new neighbor was. Kris frequently caught
glimpses of Anita peering through the papercovered
windows as he renovated. He couldn’t
help but ask himself, “Who is this crazy lady?”
One day, Anita caught her big break. Kris
had left the front door ajar. Anita’s curiosity
58 Toombs County Magazine
marched her right inside, and she finally blurted,
“What is this place?” Kris pitched her his
concept for a family-friendly Italian restaurant
called Rialto. From there, Kris and Anita became
fast friends. Anita and her husband Donald now
frequently dine at Rialto.
Rialto’s roots were born years before at the
foot of the Alps Mountains. In Italy, Chef Roberto
Decio was cultivating his culinary expertise. His
journey would lead him to Vidalia where he’d
become head chef at Rialto. Just across the Alps
from Italy in 1929, Kris’s grandfather left his
home in Switzerland to immigrate to the United
States. Kris’s grandfather married an American
woman, and they became a dairy farming family
in Waterville, New York, a community of less
than 2,000 residents. Waterville’s culture was
heavily influenced by an Italian immigrant
population, which meant close-knit families and
a passion for food.
Kris Eisenhut
quickly outgrew
the building
space for the
original Rialto's
and moved
to the present
new location on
Jackson Street.