A New Place That Offers

Italian Homemade Food On The Way Home

By Kaaren Valenta

Nonna’s Kitchen is not the usual Italian deli.

Rosaria and Frank Perna have been in the restaurant business several decades, most recently operating Vesuvio’s restaurant in Bethel until they sold it last year. Now they have downsized, and come to Newtown, where they have opened Nonna’s Kitchen Italian Deli and Catering in the old train station next to the railroad bridge on Church Hill Road.

Their new venture specializes in fine Italian foods to go: deli, lunch, dinner, and “grab & go” meals.

Rosaria, who is called Rose by many of her customers and Nonna –– grandma –– by her grandchildren, does all the baking, making Italian cheesecake, tiramisu, and other Italian pastries.

Frank Perna is the chef, preparing traditional Italian entrees in the style he learned when he started working in his cousin’s restaurant in New York City 30 years ago.

“My cousin was trained in Italy in a culinary institute in Genoa,” Mr Perna said. “He was the head chef on a passenger liner before he came to the United States and opened his own restaurant.”

Mr Perna served in the merchant marine, then went to work for Union Carbide on Park Avenue in New York City, but he worked at night and on the weekends in his cousin’s restaurant. So when he came with Union Carbide to Danbury in 1981 as the building supervisor, he missed the restaurant business. He and Rosaria soon decided to “open a little place” in Danbury. Rosaria operated the restaurant; Frank cooked at night and on weekends. Their two children, Tina and Andy, then 10 and 12, grew up in the business, which was located on Mill Plain Road, then on Candlewood Lake Road in Brookfield, and since 1995 in the Stony Hill section of Bethel.

Frank took an early retirement from Carbide in 1987 and devoted all of his time to the restaurant. And now that their children are grown, the Pernas decided it was time to scale back, so they sold the restaurant and looked for a spot to open a smaller, more personal place.

“We saw an advertisement in the newspaper for this location and it looked like a good place,” Mr Perna said. “We like Newtown because the people are so friendly. The building was empty so we brought in all of the new restaurant equipment. But we didn’t do anything to the building because it is a historic landmark.”

“We picked the name Nonna’s Kitchen because it’s a place where people can come and feel like they are at grandma’s kitchen,” said daughter-in-law Keri Perna, who sometimes helps out.

“All of the food is homemade including the sauce,” she said. “Everything is prepared fresh.”

 Some of the entrees go into a refrigerated case for customers who want the convenience of prepared entrees to go. Or customers can call or stop in and order hot entrees prepared in individual or family-style servings.

“Their individual serving serves two normal people,” Keri Perna said. “The portions are very generous.”

On a recent afternoon Frank was preparing several of the entrees: Veal Marsala, Chicken Francaise, and Chicken Saltimbuca –– chicken cutlets topped with prosciutto, mozzarella cheese and served in a white wine sauce. There were platters of crosini bread topped with eggplant oreganata. Penna ala Vodka, Fettuccini Bolognese, and Cannelloni Bolognese are always available and there is seafood among the daily specials.

The family special for the week featured spaghetti and meatballs for four with salad, bread, and a two-liter soda for $21.95. Daily lunch specials include a hot entrée with a side of pasta, potato, or rice and vegetable for $5.95. Hot and cold sandwiches are $4.50 served on a roll; $5.50 for grinders or wraps.

There is a hot table with entrees and freshly made soups, and a deli case filled with the Perna’s own salads, available by the pound, in sandwiches, or in ready-to-go containers.

Instead of the ordinary bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches available at most delis, Nonna’s Kitchen has panini sandwiches: Italian flatbread sandwiches made with focaccia bread filled with specialty ingredients and grilled to perfection. When the construction crew working on the railroad bridge said they were looking for a breakfast item, Rosa filled the bread with eggs, onion, and bacon and grilled the sandwiches on the panini machine.

Bread and rolls are delivered fresh daily from Arthur Avenue in New York.

“I am here at 7 am cooking,” Rosaria Perna said. “I’m happy when I’m cooking. Nobody bothers me. I love it. I enjoy cooking and that’s it.”

Nonna’s Kitchen offers a full range of catering services with half and full trays of entrees, pastas, and side dishes. Tina Perna, who is the catering director in the corporate culinary division of UBS, the largest Swiss bank, manages the catering at her parents’ restaurant, hiring the professional wait staff, renting tents, tables and chairs, linens, china and flatware; and getting the flowers, the balloons, and almost anything else what the customer wants from local merchants for any special event. She also makes custom gift baskets.

Nonna’s Kitchen, 57 Church Hill Road, is open from 10:30 am to 7 pm Tuesday through Thursday; 10:30 to 8 pm Friday and Saturday, and 10:30 to 2 pm on Sunday. Call 426-7025 for orders.