That's Amore

Julian and Alda Serjani, husband-and-wife owners of Amore Ristorante, created their restaurant with a two-part vision. Part one: the food would be home-cooked and made from scratch. Part two: Amore hospitality must be as distinctive as the food. Julian’s influences hearken all the way back to the meals his mom and nona created at home in the family kitchen. He determined to recreate those memories, all the delicious aromas and warm hospitality, for his guests at Amore.

First, yes, the food at Amore is made from scratch. Nothing frozen, or simmering back in the kitchen in a chafing dish. It is so scratch-made that diners who can only eat gluten free still have an entire menu open to them. How is that possible? Because, made from scratch means that, no matter what delicious item they choose from Amore’s extensive menu, Chef Julian will make a special gluten-free version of it just for them. The red sauces in Amore’s kitchen have direct roots to the cooking that Julian’s mom fed her family with back in their kitchen in Albania. Often, she would incorporate ingredients she picked in their own backyard to add her own version of home-cooked goodness.

The unique hospitality feel that diners notice right away comes from the influences of Alda Serjani. The front of the house is her responsibility, and she spends a lot of time rotating between tables, talking with customers, and making everyone feel comfortable. It’s also her responsibility to make sure her staff is training properly every workday, before the doors even open for service. The goal? “Julian and Alda want to create a higher level of habits in their people so cooks and servers both, learn to execute at that level almost from muscle memory,” says Brent Bushong, Maître d’ and Sommelier.

Perhaps the one dish on the menu that is Amore’s hell yeah dish is the bone-in veal chop. A hell yeah dish is the one that, when you see a server walk by with it, you just have to ask about it. Then, when you order it and taste it for yourself, you know. The veal chop is so popular that Amore keeps it on the menu, updating it with a rotating seasonal selection of Chef’s perfectly paired sides.

Spaghetti Carbonara is another popular dish that diners can’t get enough of, served the traditional way with caramelized onion, pancetta, and finished with a light creamy sauce. It’s simple and elegant at the same time. Shrimp Adriatic is a standout seafood selection that puts a delicious touch of the Mediterranean on the plate, with sauteed shrimp in olive oil, garlic, scallions, diced fresh tomatoes, kalamata olives, and a white wine sauce topped with crumbles of feta cheese and served over spaghetti.

On a special note: Keep an eye out for a regularly recurring Amore diners event: the Wine Maker Event. The event only serves 40 guests at a time, and Amore has hosted three of them so far. The first event sold out in about three weeks. The second in under a week. Tickets were gone in about 20 minutes for their third one. You don’t want to miss the next one!

After years in the restaurant industry, Julian and Alda have put all they know and all they dreamed a restaurant should be into their Amore Italian Restaurant. They share that vision with lucky diners every day of the week but Monday, when Chef Julian and his meticulously trained staff serve up lunch and dinner that looks delicious, tastes amazing, and delivers a dining out experience that feels even better.