Any love for Trattoria Rustica? Drove past there two days ago and saw they were closed. Replaced by another generic pizzeria.
Worked the counter there in high school. The owner (who was actually Greek, not Italian) was about as mild-mannered as Mussolini but the food was excellent and I continued to eat there for years afterward. Actually, there were times I would pray he would mellow out into Gordan Ramsay. He also paid well (and in cash, every Friday). I’ll give him that.
They had a pizzeria in the front and a nice dining room in the back. Enormous portions. Chicken dishes came with two large breasts, or sometimes three. Each meal came with a rather large salad and the tables would be given as many loaves of focaccia bread as they wanted. There was so much food that appetizers were pretty much useless (though we would get the “Greek Sampler” below sometimes).
He would always tell a story of a fine dining restaurant he went to and left hungry and had to stop at a McDonald’s on the way home. He swore if he opened a restaurant, no one would leave hungry. He accomplished that.
Chicken, penne, marsala sauce, mozzarella cheese, asparagus, and roasted red peppers.
Overall, I never got the feeling the owner needed the money. His wife had another, separate career and did well. I think this was just a passion project for him. Maybe he got tired of doing it and wanted to retire. He was older anyway.
