A La Familia
TAKING YOUR TIME in the kitchen. Using the freshest and best ingredients possible. Savoring every bite. It’s no wonder the slow food movement was born in Italy.
Today that philosophy and tradition is proudly upheld by the descendants of Italian immigrants who own and operate Southeast Michigan’s classic Italian restaurants.
Their offerings go far beyond pizza and spaghetti, allowing guests to enjoy an experience much closer to eating in a Roman trattoria or Tuscan ristorante—or, best of all, at an Italian family table.
More than a handful of area Italian-American restaurants have stood the test of time, becoming iconic spots to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries and date nights, some with second and third generations of restaurateurs feeding second and third generations of diners, often like family.
Plan meals at these restaurants as events: Indulge in multiple courses, lovingly prepared according to recipes handed down from the mother country, and linger over an experience you won’t soon forget.
That’s Amore
Amore da Roma | Detroit
Guy Pelino knew he was entering a place where tradition reigned when he became executive chef at Roma Café in 2014. More than a century in operation, the restaurant had been enormously successful.
“I was told you can’t touch the meat sauce, the salad, a lot of things,” he says with a laugh. “We’re the oldest classic Italian restaurant in Detroit.”
“I was told you can’t touch the meat sauce, the salad, a lot of things.”
—Guy Pelino, Amora da Roma, “the oldest classic Italian restaurant in Detroit”
The classic brick building alone is iconic: Built in 1888 by the Marazza family to serve vendors and farmers of Eastern Market, it officially became Roma Café two years later.
The restaurant continued when John Battaglia and Morris Sossi purchased the business in 1918 and later when Morris’s son, Hector, took over. He passed it on to his daughter, Janet Belcoure, who hired Pelino. When Belcoure was ready to retire in 2017, she trusted Pelino enough to turn the restaurant completely over to him—with the slightly modified name Amore da Roma to honor the original. Though now the owner, he still works on the line.
Pelino’s approach has been gentle, but firm. “I was the first outside chef to ever be hired here, and I felt that some of the iconic items on the menu lost a little in translation over the years,” he says. “For instance, we’re right here in Eastern Market, but the kitchen was using a lot of frozen vegetables. Now everything’s fresh. I’ve done things like lighten up the cannelloni and updated the tiramisu with my mom’s recipe, which is still traditional but full of so many flavors.”
Customers have been grateful. “They thank me for keeping the menu intact, tell me they’re so glad I’ve respected the recipes. I’m just lifting them up a bit, bringing out the flavors as much as I can.” He introduces his own dishes on weekends. “Fresh fish is where I really have fun.”
“We’ve got a lot of people to feed, and I’m here to make sure they’re happy.”
Amore da Roma
3401 Riopelle St., Detroit; amoredaroma.com
La Dolce Vita
Lelli’s | Auburn Hills
The night before Valentine’s Day in 2000, disaster struck the original Lelli’s, on Woodward Avenue in Detroit.
Established in 1939 by Italian immigrant Nerio Lelli and his wife, Irene, the restaurant had grown from around 100 tables to 750 under the ownership of son Mike Lelli.
“It’s such a wonderful family to be a part of, and our customers are part of that.”
—Kasey Thibodeaux, Lelli’s
“A cappuccino machine caught fire, and the whole place burned to the ground,” says Kasey Thibodeaux, great-granddaughter of the founder. “We had a full house; 750 parties with reservations didn’t get to celebrate Valentine’s Day with us.”
One saving grace was that the restaurant’s success had warranted another location in Auburn Hills, which opened in 1996. Rather than try to restore and reopen the Detroit eatery, the family put their energy into the Auburn Hills Lelli’s, run by Mike Lelli’s daughter Rebecca Thibodeaux and her daughters Kasey and Gabriela. It’s thrived since opening and boasts “a really deep customer base,” says Rebecca. “We have customers that I first met when I was a kid, and now they bring their grandkids.”
Each of the women grew up in the business. “Just like our mom, Gabriela and I started when we were 12 or 13 years old,” says Kasey. “We’ve all worked everywhere: the coatroom, front of house, we’ve cooked on the line. We’ve made Crêpes Suzette and Bananas Foster tableside. We’ve literally done every aspect of this business.”
The Lelli’s menu features plenty of pasta, all made in-house, and they’re renowned for their superb way with steaks, chops and other carnivore delights, as well as seafood and chicken. The Thibodeauxs recommend starting with Shrimp Lelli, one of their most popular appetizers. For your steak, “we’re known for Zip Sauce,” says Kasey. “It’s a salty, buttery, extremely flavorful sauce my grandfather came up with that you can’t get anywhere else.”
The family continues to find new ways to innovate as they honor their roots. “This is where we know we’re going to be,” says Kasey. “We’re so grateful for this home, to work with each other. It’s such a wonderful family to be a part of, and our customers are part of that.”
Lelli’s
885 N. Opdyke Rd., Auburn Hills;
lellisrestaurant.com; @Lellis75years
Verismo
Mario’s Restaurant | Detroit
Celebrating their 75th year in business, Mario’s was founded by Frank and Arlene Passalacqua in 1948. Their son, Vincent Passalacqua, owns the restaurant today. “This isn’t retro, it’s real,” he says. “Our success formula over the years has remained unchanged. We do full meals, so when you order an entrée, you also get antipasto, salad and soup.” That’s if you decide on one of the many pasta entrées, which cover the classics from linguini with red or white clam sauce to gnocchi piemontese. “We’re northern Italian,” says Passalcqua, “and our Bolognese sauce is unique, very classic.”
Should you opt instead for one of the meat, chicken or seafood entrées, you’ll get all of the above courses plus a small plate of pasta. For vegetarians, Passalacqua recommends Eggplant Parmesan: “We bread the eggplant, pan sear it, then layer it with ricotta and spinach.” Dishes flamed in cognac, from Tournedos Royal—beef medallions sautéed with capers, anchovies, parsley and sherry prior to their immolation—to Cherries Jubilee are prepared tableside. For lighter appetites there’s a special menu, as well as a full slate of appetizers, soups and salads that can be ordered a la carte.
“This isn’t retro, it’s real.”
—Vincent Passalacqua, Mario’s
Mario’s can take care of you for an entire evening or event as well. The Broadway in Detroit program offers theater and concert packages complete with dinner, parking at the restaurant and a limo ride to the show for an excellent price. You can also arrange to have dinner followed by photos shot at famous locations around the city, like Belle Isle and the DIA. Be sure to include a selfie at Mario’s: The Eat This website (eatthis.com) recently designated it one of eight iconic Italian restaurants in the entire United States.
Mario’s Restaurant
4222 2nd Ave., Detroit; mariosdetroit.com
Several favorites at Giovanni’s Ristorante: (L-R) Bistecca al Calamari Fritti, Melanzanne alla Parmigiana, and Pollo Carciofini.
Bravo
Giovanni’s Ristorante Detroit
Frances Cannarsa Truant, daughter of the restaurant’s namesake, began working in the pizza parlor run by her mother and brothers following her husband Olindo’s tragic death. She had a vision: to eventually build the humble pizzeria into an elegant, five-star restaurant. To help her, she recruited her friend Paulina Tarducci to open Giovanni’s Ristorante in 1968.
“I was so lucky to work under Chef Paulina,” says Randy Truant, Frances’ son and the restaurant’s current executive chef and owner. He hadn’t intended to join the family business (his degree is in engineering), but once he started working in the kitchen, he was hooked.
“Chef Paulina taught me to follow the traditional Italian motto: five ingredients or less, and those ingredients have to be the very best available,” says Truant. “If Paulina could get an ingredient that day, she’d cook it and put it on the menu.” He continues to do the same. “Just the other day, we had a bunch of squash blossoms. We get amazing mushrooms from a local grower.”
Responding to seasonal cues allows Giovanni’s to keep fixtures on its menu like eggplant parmigiana and veal or chicken masala, and also innovate. The menu is compact, featuring plenty of fresh house-made pasta and unique specials that take advantage of whatever’s fresh and local.
Located on the outskirts of Detroit, getting to Giovanni’s is “an experience,” admits Truant. “When my grandmother started the restaurant, there were 400 houses in the neighborhood; this side of the bridge it was all Italian. My grandma actually grew up down the street. Now, it’s really industrial. It’s so much fun to watch people come in for the first time. They’ve been thinking, ‘Where am I going? An oil refinery?’ And then they open the door to this traditional warm and inviting Italian family restaurant.”
One of the guests who made their way to Giovanni’s: Frank Sinatra. “He really put us on the map,” says Truant. “We’ll always be grateful to Frank.” Dozens of celebrities have stopped by since: Danny DeVito, Pat Benatar, George Clooney and Celine Dion are just a few. “Mom was here to greet them all,” says Randy. “She welcomed absolutely everyone who walked in that door like they were family.”
Though Frances, 93, has retired from her front-of-house duties, the restaurant works to maintain the friendliness she instilled. “People always ask about her,” says Randy Truant.
“The small family-owned restaurant isn’t so easy to find now. But we’re still here, and we love it when new people discover us.”
—Randy Truant, Giovanni’s Ristorante
“The small family-owned restaurant isn’t so easy to find now. But we’re still here, and we love it when new people discover us.”
Giovanni’s Ristorante
330 S. Oakwood Blvd., Detroit;
giovannisristorante.com; @giovannisdetroit
Al Fresco
Café Cortina Farmington Hills
Intimate, casual, elegant, Café Cortina in Farmington Hills was founded by Adriano and Rina Tonon in 1976. The menu unites their childhoods: his spent near Cortina d’Ampezzo, nestled in the mountains between Venice and the Austrian Tirol, and hers in the Bronx, New York.
They found a dream location in Farmington Hills. “A garden was essential; it’s always been, continues to be, the very heart of what we do,” says Rina Tonon.
Sadly, tragedy struck in the early ’90s, when Adriano died suddenly at age 51. “I was determined to not give up his legacy,” says Rina. Their son Adrian had worked in the restaurant since his teen years, and scored an impressive apprenticeship at the Hotel Cipriani in Venice after receiving his degree in hospitality from Michigan State University. “When he came back and added his input, within three years Cafe Cortina had been chosen by HOUR [Detroit] Magazine as its restaurant of the year,” says Rina. This year, HOUR featured the restaurant as one of Metro Detroit’s iconic restaurants. “We are so honored,” says Rina.
In addition to Adrian, Rina’s son Giancarlo is also an integral part of the business, as is every member of the multicultural staff led by Executive Chef Ernesto Antopia. Originally from Spain, Antopia views Italian cuisine as “one of the mothers of the kitchen.” He’s impressed by the café’s farm-to-table approach from the restaurant’s beginning, long before the phrase became a buzzword.
When restaurants were required to close during the pandemic, the Tonons and Antopia characteristically found a bright side: a chance to landscape an area next to the restaurant’s garden to create a Private Chef ’s Table with a maximum seating of 14 people. In the summer, the table is booked weeks in advance. (There’s backup seating indoors in the event of rain.)
The secret of Cortina for Rina is, “in the end, respect. Your staff, your guests, the food, the ingredients. Even our flowers have meaning. When you love what you do, when you have the support of family, friends, loyal guests—it’s a joy.”
Café Cortina
30715 W. 10 Mile Rd., Farmington Hills;
cafecortina.com; @cafecortina
Bella Notte
Da Edoardo Grosse Pointe Grosse Pointe Woods
The original Edoardo, patriarch of Southeast Michigan’s Barbieri family, earned his cooking credentials in a WWII mess tent. “That’s where he decided cooking was his passion,” says his granddaughter, Ann BarbieriKolinski.
That was long before the family opened Da Edoardo Grosse Pointe in 1978. Today the Barbieri family— Barbieri-Kolinski, her brother Eddie, and their mother Josephine—also owns and operates La Lanterna in downtown Detroit, Café Nini in Grosse Pointe Farms and Da Edoardo North in Grand Blanc.
“We want guests to feel that they’re coming into our home.”
—Ann Barbieri-Kolinski, Da Edoardo Grosse Pointe
The family’s ancestral home is in the Emilia-Romagna region, “the food mecca of Italy,” says Barbieri-Kolinski. “All our recipes are original; my father, Edward, went to Italy to study the food preparation right at the source, and we’ve all made many trips to Italy.” The cuisine is known for cream sauces—Ann credits the influence of France—and stuffed pastas like tortellini. “We use tomatoes a lot less than they do in southern Italy.”
She attributes the restaurant group’s success to the way that “our hands are in everything. We want guests to feel that they’re coming into our home.” Eddie Baribieri is in charge of rigorous quality checks, making sure that recipes stay on point. The Grosse Pointe Woods location’s executive chef, Stephen Kress, upholds the family’s traditions as he innovates with his own specials inspired by the seasons.
The fourth generation of Barbieris— the children of Ann, Eddie, and their sister Alicia—have, like their parents, worked in the family business; the family has also traveled extensively in Italy. Ann’s son Maxwell Kolinski, who, like his mom, studied in Italy, has decided to make cooking his career. He currently works under Kress in the Grosse Pointe Woods kitchen.
“Cooking’s in our blood,” says Ann. “We’re present. We’re hands-on. That’s our culture.”
Da Edoardo
19767 Mack Ave., Grosse Pointe Woods; for other restaurant locations, visit daedoardo.com; @daedoardogp
Nan Bauer writes about food, books and travel, including to Italy, a favorite destination. Her perfect Italian meal starts with a caprese salad, followed by polenta and ending with gelato. Extra points for an outside table.
