30 | VIPPensacola.com
story by
Liesel Schmidt
| photos by
Dawn Richardson
&
Franco’s Italian Restaurant
Mambo
Italiano
T
hough lots of restaurants claim to
be “Italian,” it takes a mere cursory
glance over the menu to realize
that what they’re serving is about
as authentically Italian as a microwavable
lasagna. And while they may play up the
theme with the clichéd décor of candles in
Chianti bottles topping the tables of a dimly
lit dining room while a canned loop of dulcet
music sung in the native tongue is piped over
the sound system, the watered-down dishes
they offer often bear only a poor resemblance
to the cuisine of the country they claim to
represent.
Taking any question of their authenticity
out of the game, Franco’s Italian Restaurant
has been serving truly Italian food for nearly
a quarter of a century, their fl avors slow
simmered in tradition to achieve fare worthy
of a place of honor on the table, a true taste
of la famiglia in every bite that offers a warm
welcome and an invitation to sit and enjoy la
dolce vita.
Originally opened in 1993, the fare at
Franco’s brought a new accent to the shores
of Orange Beach, Alabama, readily standing
out from the regional cuisine that locals had
become so accustomed to sampling. When
Clorinda Bassolino-Meadlock purchased
the restaurant from its original owners in the
summer of 2015, she wasn’t simply taking
up the reigns of someone else’s idea. She
was taking a leap of faith based on heart,
heritage, and a desire to share the food that
had always fed her soul, her true formula for
success found in the recipes that have fl owed
through the bloodlines of her family from one
generation to the next.
Such robustness is the backbone of Italian
cooking, a balanced meeting of rusticity and
refi nement that demands no snobbery but
rather embraces feasting as an art and a way
to connect. The table is a gathering place, the
seated summit of hearts and minds that all
seem to fi nd equanimity in a plate of food.
There’s passion poured into every dish; and
at Franco’s, that passion is truly what drives
the menu, from the scratch-made sauces
and freshly rolled pasta to the
last lingering bite of handcrafted
tiramisu.
These are the familiar tastes and
smells of Bassolino-Meadlock’s
childhood, recipes she learned
from her father, a native of Napoli
whose parents’ desire for the
American dream brought his
family to the harbor at Ellis Island
when he was a 13 year-old boy
and from her “Nonna,” whose
homemade pastas were ever draped across
broomsticks in her garage as they rested
and dried. For Bassolino-Meadlock, this
is the very fabric of her family; and when
guests dine at Franco’s, they’re experiencing
tradition. “The concept here is ‘La Famiglia,’
and that’s absolutely what we are—a family-
owned, truly authentic Italian restaurant,”
says Bassolino-Meadlock, her thick New York
accent coating every word. “For me, this is
something that’s in my blood—my Nonna
was a wonderful cook; and when my father
Rocco came to America, he stood on Pepsi
crates to learn how to make pizzas. After
he grew up and married my mother, they
owned their own restaurants in New York,
and that’s really where I was raised—in the
family restaurants, learning those recipes,”
XX-XX CoastalCuisine.indd 1
4/23/17 1:57 PM