Happy New Year From Our Family To Your Family!! I know I promised I was going to write down 50 recipes as my 2015 New Year’s Resolution but it took me longer than I expected to combine cooking, writing, pictures and memories. But no worries Jim and I will continue this fun project into … Read more
“Papa” To talk about soft shell crabs I am always reminded of my dad. He loved the ocean. My dad taught us everything about the ocean, seafood and how to enjoy them both! Before I go on to discuss soft shell crabs as promised I would like to share my memories of my dad. I … Read more
Parisienne Sauce was a very popular sauce in the restaurant. It’s a buttery lemony sauce enhanced with the salty tanginess of capers. Capers are the highlight of this sauce. To understand capers one has to know capers. I thought I would share a little story about my childhood and some facts about the tiny delicate … Read more
Part 2 Cooking for my Childhood Friends “As I dropped the pasta in the pot of boiling water I called out to my friends, “How do you want the pasta cooked?” I was wincing waiting for the answer. They all matter-of-factly answered together, “al dente!” My heart leaped for joy as I realized they have … Read more
“My dad was the first of his brothers to leave the apartment life over the restaurant to buy a house in the countryside. The first day in our new home was both exciting and scary. Living only with our immediate family without all of our Italian speaking aunts, uncles and cousins was an entirely new … Read more
Trying to wake up my memory from the 1960’s when the restaurant first began I decided to study the first dinner menu. I counted 183 menu items. In fact there was nothing anyone could want that wasn’t listed on that menu. Not only were there many items but they were really odd entrees. On the cold … Read more
“Maybe it’s because I grew up bilingual but I always took a great interest in words. It was always a language challenge to grow up in a bilingual household. The spoken word was not always what it was meant to be. So much so, that I would always double check before something came out of … Read more
“In the early years my brother and I conversed only in Italian. In fact all of the cousins that resided in the apartments over the restaurant spoke only in Italian! What is weird is that I remember watching TV and cartoons like Felix the Cat! My favorite! I must have known what they were saying … Read more
“It wasn’t just my mamma’s voice that my brother and I experienced coming through the window of our apartment. As my brother and I would gaze through the window overlooking the restaurant kitchen skylights, we could almost see a swirl of aromas lifting through the air toward our window. We both stood tall breathing in … Read more
“My brother and I would savor our tomato juice for what seemed like an eternity. We lingered as long as possible at that booth. Long and narrow with booths on the right and tables on the left, “the restaurant” was dark except for the light streaming from the front window and the light streaming from … Read more