Inside Dorit Kemsley’s Buca di Beppo Remodel

For months, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills viewers have waited patiently for the season's biggest reveal. No, not the truth behind all that Denise Richards drama. We're talking about Dorit Kemsley's remodel of a room in Buca di Beppo's Encino location.

In tomorrow night's episode of RHOBH, we'll finally get to see Dorit officially unveil what she's named the Capri Room to her fellow castmates in celebration of Teddi Mellencamp's baby shower. However, you won't have to wait for that episode to air to get a peek inside the newly decorated restaurant. Ladies, gentlemen, and Bravo fans, and carb lovers, may we introduce the Capri Room.

The room, with its framed beach scenes and climbing lemon vines, was inspired by Dorit's love of the Isle of Capri. The collaboration came together because of her longtime friendship with Buca di Beppo owner, Robert Earl.

The Capri Room experience doesn't stop with Dorit's decor. Buca di Beppo has also created a special menu so that anyone — not just L.A. locals — can order the "Capri Package." It's inspired by Dorit's hand-selected and favorite items from the menu that were served during Teddi's baby shower. The package features a selection of appetizer, salads, entrèes, and a dessert, including mozzarella Caprese, fried mozzarella, apple gorgonzola salad, Caesar salad, chicken parmigiana with spaghetti marinara, chicken Limone with spaghetti marinara, salmon Sorrento with spaghetti marinara, and cannoli.

To bring tomorrow night's episode of RHOBH to life, you can order Dorit's Capri Package from your local Buca di Beppo location. Eat along with the ladies as they experience the Capri Room IRL for the first time.

Like so many of the Real Housewives, especially those in Beverly Hills, Dorit Kemsley has a real taste for the finer things in life. Between her new $6.5 million home, numerous incredible looks that come together thanks to glam teams and design labels, and her "I won't settle for anything less than everything" tagline, it's clear Kemsley likes luxury. That's why it was a bit surprising when, in tonight's episode of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, the Bravo star revealed she was beginning to do business with Buca di Beppo, an Italian restaurant chain that's so beloved by families across America.

"I became a partner in Buca di Beppo's Encino location after my family and I moved to Encino," Kemsley told Refinery29 today. Though this might seem like an unlikely venture for the Beverly Beach by Dorit designer, it actually makes perfect sense if you know the backstory. Robert Earl, the businessman who founded Planet Hollywood International Inc, which just so happens own Buca Di Beppo, is a very close friend of Dorit's husband, Paul Kemsley — Earl is actually her son Jagger's godfather. "Our families are very close and when we moved to Encino, it seemed a natural fit," she explained.

This week's episode of RHOBH follows Kemsley into a meeting with Buca di Beppo, where she's told she can customize the restaurant location with her very own signature room. Of course, despite the fact that she's working on the design of a banquet hall in a restaurant beloved by the bourgeois, in true Beverly Hill Housewife fashion, Kemsley wants to make it as bougie as possible. Here, viewers are treated to some amusing back-and-forth about the budget.

Though patrons of the Encino Buca di Beppo likely won't be eating on over $18,000-worth of Hermès dinnerware, which Kemsley flaunted in season 8 of RHOBH, they can expect an indulgent Italian experience. When asked about the aesthetic approach she took in designing the banquet hall of the Encino location, she conjures up memories of trips to Capri. "I spent most of my 20s living and working in Italy. It's a place that is very close to my heart and a lot of who I am today is reflective of the time I spent living there," she shares. "Capri is still one of the places I enjoy visiting the most (PK and I were just there last summer), and I think it's one of the most beautiful, magical places in the world. When I told Robert that I'd like to design a room in the restaurant inspired by the colors and splendor of Capri, he instantly loved the idea, and I began designing what is now called the Capri Room."

Kemsley promises that Real Housewives of Beverly Hills fans will get to see more of the process behind making her Capri room into reality, and we'll even be treated to the room's final reveal this season. Though the restaurant is currently only filling pick-up and delivery orders as a result of COVID-19, the Capri Room did open before the restrictions were put in place. According to Kemsley, it got a great response from guests.

As for what's next for her Buca di Beppo partnership, Kemsley says her plans involve continued work with other locations and based on success in Encino, there are plans in the works for more Capri Rooms designed by the Bravo star. Watch out Lisa Vanderpump — Dorit Kemsley could soon be making a luxurious dining experience more accessible by bringing it to restaurants across the country.