- Nonna Sulina's Sicilian Kitchen & Grill has debuted its fall celebration specials
- Owner and Executive Chef Giacomo Sgroi takes pride in executing his vision for creating delicious plates of food — especially in autumn
- “I almost want to tell you I hear whispers from my ancestors talking to me," he said of the flavors with which he experiments
BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Giacomo Sgroi has never gone to culinary school, but his life experience — particularly, hanging out at his father’s coastal restaurant in Sicily or spending time in the kitchen with his beloved “nonna” — allowed cooking to evolve into a deep-rooted passion.
Fast-forward decades later, and Sgroi has opened Nonna Sulina’s Sicilian Kitchen & Grille, named in tribute to his maternal grandmother.
What’s more, he’s put the restaurant, at 5000 Bath Pike, on the map as a culinary hot spot in the Lehigh Valley — especially during the fall season.
“When you do get to create one or two sauces where you can’t Google them, you can’t find them in a book and you make them — they’re really special."Nonna Silina's Sicilian Kitchen and Grille owner and Executive Chef Giacomo Sgroi
Both the decor and the menu lean into an authentic Italian experience, with imported tile lining the walls of the dining room. But because he’s taught by family, Sgroi doesn’t feel the need to follow any preconceived rules about sauces or anything else.
Instead, he said his dishes are designed to showcase the ingredients and influence of his homeland.
“When you do get to create one or two sauces where you can’t Google them, you can’t find them in a book and you make them — they’re really special,” Sgroi said.
Since the first days of opening the restaurant's doors to the public, Sgroi said his mission has been transforming Nonna Sulina’s into a destination.
That is — to make Lehigh Valley residents feel as though they’re visiting Italy and getting a taste of the authentic ingredients and flavors they would find in Sicily.
For Sgroi, there’s no better time to take his natural instincts and execute his vision for creating delicious plates of food than these first days of autumn.
To execute a vision
The way a painter might see a brilliant palette of colors, Sgroi said he sees an endless combination of fall flavors he can’t wait to experiment with.
“My inspiration at all times is, ‘It’s easy to follow. It’s hard to lead,” he said, explaining recipe execution that routinely becomes “an all-day affair.”
The fall specials include appetizers such as Burrata Cinderella — Lioni latticini burrata, hand breaded and fried served with Sicilian “zucca in agrodolce,” sweet and sour pumpkin with cranberries, caramelized onions, seasoned pumpkin seeds, and drizzled with a cherry reduction.
"I want a product that nobody else has."Giocomo Sgroi, owner and Executive Chef at Nonna Sulina's
Sgroi’s slow-cooked wild boar bolognese — featured in a Wild Boar Lasagna — also has a story of its own.
“Three, four years ago I went out of my way to find this special wild breed of wild boar and it comes from Canada," he said. "And this sauce takes at least 12 hours to make.”
The way Sgroi tells it, procurement of the recipe for that wild boar was rather circuitous and labor intensive — but it allowed him to acquire profound knowledge of the dish and proficiency in preparing it.
“I came to America and I made it for my family, and they’re all big food eaters, and they were stunned," he said. "So I put it on the menu, and I barely make money but I’m not faking it.
"I want a product that nobody else has."
'Like the Willy Wonka of food'
While seasonal menus can drive the restaurant business, unexpected combinations are what Sgroi hopes will keep diners happy.
One of the fall specials at Nonna Sulina’s includes that slow-cooked wild boar bolognese in a lasagna that also features thin-sliced meatballs, mozzarella and ricotta cheese, along with a San Marzano tomato sauce drizzled with bechamel.
Pappardelle pasta also is elevated in a roasted garlic and maple pumpkin butter sauce with chicken. The sauce contains three types of vinegars, Sgroi said, plus brown sugar, sage, Gorgonzola cheese, cream and a host of other ingredients.
There are also seafood options on the menu (the Gnocchi Al Mimmo is a homemade gnocchi served with shrimp, scallops and crabmeat in a herb brandy cream sauce and baked with mozzarella) and Veal Osso Buco Montalcino is a slow-cooked veal shank served over homemade truffle gnocchi with pine nuts, dried cherries, and caramelized onions in a red wine brodotto.
“I almost want to tell you I hear whispers from my ancestors talking to me,” Sgroi said Wednesday, when asked how he comes up with flavor combinations and why his dishes are so imaginative.
“I’m like the Willy Wonka of food."Giacomo Sgroi, owner and Executive Chef at Nonna Sulina's
“I’m like the Willy Wonka of food,” he said, laughing. “It’s always in my head, millions and millions of thoughts running around all day long. It doesn’t stop. I leave here and I go home and cook or think about what I’m cooking next.
“The whole fall, from here past Halloween until about the middle of November [is that fall menu],” he said. “And then we go into winter and we change everything again.”
Coming Monday: A look at other food and beverage offerings for fall across the Lehigh Valley.
