Saratoga News

Photograph by George Sakkestad

Ralph Ditullio, who with his wife, Elizabeth, owns Nonno's, whips up an ice-cold mocha with lots of whipped cream on a very hot day.

Nonno's serves pizza, pasta
from Italian family recipes

By Suzanne Cristallo

In the 1920s, many travelers longing for a country place to visit on weekends stopped off in Redwood Estates in the mountains south of Los Gatos and came away as landowners. Designed as a resort, the commercial land development was aimed at city folk wanting a cabin retreat.

Today, travelers and locals alike still long for a destination in the country. They still stop off in Redwood Estates, but now they're coming away pizza owners. The reason is Nonno's, an Italian eating destination being discovered by neighbors and visitors alike since it opened earlier this year. The restaurant itself is like a cabin retreat.

Owners Ralph and Elizabeth Ditullio, after catering events in the mountain community and providing pizzas to the Summit Store for more than 10 years, decided it was time to open a permanent location on the mountain. The Redwood Estates Nonno's is their second restaurant. They also own a full-service pizza and pasta eatery in Campbell.

"So many people have told us they wanted someplace to go--a nice place to drive to with the family," says Ralph, 47, a native Los Gatan who presently resides in the mountains. While Nonno's is now open weekday mornings as a pastry and espresso bar and on weekends for dinner, the Ditullios expect to have it operating as a full-time restaurant by the end of the summer.

Mom's Meat Ball is one of the specialty dishes. Each ball is as big as a fist and weighs in at a full third of a pound. It's served as a sandwich and comes from a recipe inspired by Ralph's mother.

"Actually, she learned about it from my dad's mom, who was Italian like my dad," Ralph notes. "Mom was Portuguese--we snuck her in there," he says with a grin.

The most popular dinner pizza, which can be specially ordered during the week along with the rest of the pizza menu, is called Italy's Best. Ricotta cheese is rubbed into the raw dough, which is then smeared with tomato and pesto sauces, sprinkled with mozzarella and mushrooms and laden with slices of linguica and Italian sausages.

"This is a family place," Ralph says, "a friendly place where you'll probably end up sitting down and having a glass of wine with the owner."

The decor is of red-and-white checkered tablecloths, small, informal tables, candles and Italian music in the background--"unless the Giants are playing," Ralph warns. Originally, the place was a restaurant, then a video store where, reportedly, Ralph's pizzas from the Summit Store were resold. It sat empty for six months before the Ditullios had it completely remodeled .

Ralph was one of nine children who learned about good Italian cooking from his grandfather, called nonno in Italian. There was much competition among the siblings for the food.

"I remember eating fast to get seconds," Ralph recalls. But he also remembers the dishwashing duty he shared with older sister, Marysue, who eventually became a chef for the Peasant Chef, which was in the Los Gatos location now occupied by Cafe Marcella. "I savor each bite, and the rest of my family is doing dishes while I still eat," he says, admitting this may be an avoidance tactic.

Meanwhile, locals are swinging off Highway 17 to pick up their morning coffee and weekenders are finding a new place to go. For newcomers, look for the Redwood Estates Post Office west of 17. Nonno's is right across the street.

Nonno's, 21433 Broadway, Los Gatos (in Redwood Estates). Espresso bar open weekdays, 6-10 a.m. Dinner Fri. and Sat. 4-8:30 p.m. 353-5633.

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This article appeared in the Saratoga News, July 22, 1998.
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