Eldersburg resident Gregg Norris recalls visiting his old friend Ivelin Kostadinov one afternoon when Kostadinov, a Bulgaria native, surprised him.

"He said, 'Guess what! We may be your customers soon!' " laughs Norris, who is also owner of the Clay Pipe Brewery Co.

Kostadinov had decided to open a restaurant, Amante Pizza and Pasta, and wanted Clay Pipe beers -- at the time brewed in Carroll County -- to be on the menu.

Recalling that exchange -- and after taking a bite of his gigantic Thai house calzone -- Norris nods toward the beaming Kostadinov and declares, "It was the greatest day of your life."

Kostadinov would hardly disagree.

For almost two years Amante, located on Liberty Road, has offered its selection of gourmet pizza, pasta dishes, salads and more.

Kostadinov had worked in the restaurant business in various positions for years, but never really thought about owning his own until a friend in Seattle encouraged him.

"He had been bugging me a couple of years," Kostadinov recalls. "He had 11 locations in Washington (state). I thought this was a very good location. It is very close to my home."

A chain in Washington, Amante also has two locations outside that state -- in Phoenix, Ariz., and now in Sykesville.

"We have actually had two different people from Seattle stop while driving by to see if we were the same (chain)," Kostadinov said. "We have just about the same menu but, there are differences."

Besides calling sandwiches "sandwiches" -- not "grinders" as they do in Seattle -- Kostadinov's Amante menu has more seafood pasta dishes, as well as crab dip.

"We live in Maryland. You gotta have seafood," Kostadinov says.

The restaurants also offers stuffed cheesesteaks. "They (in Seattle) don't know what cheesesteaks are," he says.

Kostadinov has lived in America for 15 years. He and his wife originally planned to live in Canada, as Kostadinov had lived there briefly. The couple stopped to visit his wife's father and sister in Maryland, and have lived in Sykesville ever since.

But it was 2006 when Amante began to take shape.

"This place was a mess," says Kostadinov, gesturing around the restaurant that now is decorated in deep reds, golds, orange, rusts and brick facades.

"We did change everything," he says. "It was plenty of work. My wife is an artist. She did all of that."

A year after the restaurant's opening, Kostadinov completed renovations to the basement and opened a bar with an outside covered patio. The restaurant seats now 50 people, the bar seats 29 and the patio about 30, Kostadinov estimates.

The renovation work gives Kostadinov a good sense of pride, but not as much as the food.

"I am not worried about competition," Kostadinov says. "I know what I am selling. I sell a good product.

"Everything gets made right here," he says. "Some people have a hard time understanding why it's '20 minutes to get my salad,' (but) we make it from scratch. You order a salad, we're going to make it for you."

The restaurant offers 15 salads, 30 specialty pizzas and 28 pasta dishes every day, Kostadinov boasts.

Special Mediterranean dishes are offered on Thursday. The restaurant also offers carry-out and recently added delivery service.

"If your food is good, everything else is OK," Kostadinov says. "You've gotta love it to be in extreme heat and all the pressure."

Amante Pizza and Pasta (410-795-8888) is located at 21 Liberty Road, Sykesville. Call 410-795-8888.

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