It’s been nearly 20 years since I have eaten my Nonnie's Italian food, but I could have sworn she was back in the kitchen when I visited Joe’s Italian last month. The sounds, seasonings and harsh lighting brought me right back to her dining room in Huntington Station, N.Y., where I had my fi rst saucy southern Italian meals. Regardless of where in the metropolitan area you reside, Joe’s Italian is reason to visit Alabaster.
In 1977, Italian-born owners Giuseppe and Elvira "Momma" Bertolone packed up their young children and opened their first United States restaurant in Gilroy, Calif. They previously ran a small trattoria in Andora, Italy. The Bertolones ran the Gilroy restaurant for more than 27 years before retiring. Three years ago, they moved Alabaster and reopened Joe’s with the help of their children Sonia, Michael and Mary.
Expect to wait for a seat, 30 to 90 minutes depending on conditions, or avoid the wait by placing a takeout order. Enjoy the mild spring evening with a glass (or bottle) of wine. Start with a Lambrusco, a sweet red sparkler, and compliment a tomatoey dish with a peppery Nero d’Avola. Joe’s does not mark up prices as much as many other restaurants, leaving many bottles in the $20 to $30 price range.
"The recipe for our white lasagna came to me in a dream," President Sonia Bertolone says. I believe her, because with its creamy white sauce and bits of spicy sausage, that lasagna was positively dreamy. The tender chicken parmesan, red lasagna and silky tomatobasil soup were also outstanding.
After four bottles of wine and generous entrées, we could hardly pass up dessert: massive slices of homemade cake. My group of seven barely finished three slices: strawberry cake, chocolate zebra cake, and my personal favorite, cannoli cake. Bring it home if you must, but do not skip dessert.
My name is Sonia Bertolone and I am the owner of Joe's Italian in Alabaster, Alabama where you can always fine your little piece of authentic Italian cooking.
