By Dan Martino
As we have sometimes done before, we occasionally use Kindred Spirits to document a really pleasant “Good Life” event in our lives. And since wine and other libations are so often a part of those events, we feel we can “cheat” a bit and include a really special dining experience here as well.We had this very nice Cabernet with one such meal. As I’ve written in early entries in this section of our website, we have pizza (and occasionally other meals) with our great friends Pat and Sue every few months. Over the five years that we’ve been doing this, we’ve visited many central Illinois pizzerias with mostly excellent results. Maybe the old expression, “I’ve never had a bad pizza, some are just better than others” is relevant here. In any case, we have had some incredible pizzas and the pies we had with this Cabernet were some of the very best.
Pat and Sue live in Minonk, Illinois and their go-to pizzeria is Joe’s Pizza in their home town. Because Joe’s only recently became a “dine-in” restaurant, we hadn’t included it in our pizza adventures. But when we finally did, I was really happy to now have this family owned and operated restaurant in our rotation.
Joe Catarinicchia and his wife Jolena started the business in Minonk in 1985, just a few years after Joe moved to America from Cinisi, a small city in northwest Sicily. Today, Joe, Jolena and two of their children are “hands on” involved with the day to day running of the restaurant and you can truly feel the family atmosphere from the moment you walk in. The crust and the sauce, the heart of any pizza, are made with homemade recipes and I can tell you from personal experience, they serve as excellent foundations for the variety of toppings and specialty pizzas. The menu also includes calzones and sandwiches, along with starters.
As a bonus, daughter Rozana has a specialty business out of Joe’s, making homemade cannolis and son Alessio makes delicious tirimasu (I was able to sample one myself). I find it so refreshing and a little nostalgic to see how this Italian family works together. Having grown up in a multi-generational Italian family myself, I’m really happy to have been introduced to the Catarinicchias and I wish them continued success…I have no doubt that it will!