Longtime restaurateur Vince Mottola of Vince’s Italian Restaurant and Pizzeria has launched a successful tour company that’s now in its tenth year.

But, don’t call him the Rick Steves of Italy, Mottola’s approach to travel is slightly different than the Edmonds-based guru.

“What I do is a little more luxurious,” said Mottola. “He goes through the back door; we go through the front door.”

Although he is flattered by any comparison to Steves, Mottola prides his tours on their luxury accommodations as opposed to the hostels and modest housing offered on Steves’ tours.

And Mottola doesn’t like to have every day of his tours scheduled with as many events as some other tour companies.

The Italian-American, who has spent almost every year of his life traveling back to Italy to see family, likes for his clients to experience the locals and culture in settings like cafés and restaurants.

What better way to experience Italy, a foodie’s paradise, than with an Italian restaurateur.

That’s exactly what a local tour company was thinking when they asked Mottola to lead the tours 10 years ago.

After two years, Mottola branched out on his own and started coordinating the tours himself.

Now he runs Mottola Italian Tours with the assistance of his daughter Gabriela and accompanied by his wife, Carla.

They take groups of between 16 and 24 people on guided tours through Rome, Florence, Venice, Naples, Sorrento, Pompeii and Capri, to name some of their excursions.

For the first time this year they will offer two tours in the fall: a northern tour and a southern tour.

“A lot of the reason people choose to go with me is because they know I’m a restaurateur, they know I’m Italian and they know I love food,” said Mottola. “So, we really have a great time at restaurants.”

Mottola is the son of Enzo (Vince) and Ada Mottola, who opened Vince’s Italian Restaurant in south Seattle in 1957.

The couple moved to Renton Avenue and Henderson in 1963 and that was the oldest restaurant in the enterprise until Mottola had to close it last year.

Mottola believes that his family business is the oldest business run by the same family in Renton.

They had a tough time during the recent recession, but have always had steady business and things are trending upward, Mottola said.

Three years ago he opened Pizzeria Pulcinella on Rainier Avenue South.

Now, Mottola co-owns and operates all of the restaurants, in Burien, Federal Way and the Highlands, with Fred Martichuski.

“So, we have a long history here and the folks of Renton have been really loyal and good to our family and our restaurants,” Mottola said.

He counts himself lucky to have happened on this tour business, which seems like a natural fit, considering his experience with his family’s native land.

His parents are immigrants from Naples and almost all of his extended family lives in Italy.

Mottola lived there for a couple of years when he was in his early teens.

“You can’t have a bad time in Italy, but you can have a really really wonderful time if you know a few things about the country and the people,” he said.

There is still room on the upcoming fall tours to the north and south of Italy.

For more information visit www.mottolaitaliantours.com and www.vincesitalian.com for more on Vince’s Italian Restaurants and Pizzeria.