I didn’t learn to cook when I was young, but I did learn how food can make you feel. Whether it was pizza from Al’s or Freddy’s, a sub sandwich from Mickey’s, a grilled cheese with Greek lemon chicken soup from Mother’s Day or Majestic, a hot dog and fries from all of my favorite places – Pompey’s, Pete’s, Parkey’s, Dandy’s – or a petite filet and baked potato from Giannotti’s, where we went many Saturday nights after church. Those meals weren’t about the food per se, although I have to admit, some days I can still remember the taste of each of those delicious bites. It was really about the experience; the way I felt each time I walked into one of those places. It was about the people who worked there, who knew me and my family, and who were often part of some of the most important moments of our lives.
As I got older and my family started to grow to include spouses, children, and in-laws, we settled into a new routine and a new restaurant, La Bella Pasteria, in downtown Oak Park. We were introduced to the original La Bella through one of our neighbors, where we started to spend most Christmas Eve dinners. Although our neighbors moved away, my family continued to spend Christmas Eve dinner there, including my fiancé and now husband, our family friend and best man Jim, and other friends and neighbors we have met along the way. La Bella was the restaurant my husband and I ate dinner on the evening of our engagement, where we had our rehearsal dinner, and where we have had every family event since from communions to graduations and birthdays to anniversaries. During our family’s history with La Bella, they had three owners and two different locations, but most of the staff stayed the same. Those staff and the most current owners, Dave and Ann, became part of our extended family. We looked forward to seeing them and hearing about what was new in our their lives. We looked forward to those family celebrations where pictures include all of our friends and family with our La Bella family. La Bella was our second home, filled with so many happy memories and memorable events. I remember every bite of every meal, from the sausage and peppers and fried calamari, to the La Bella salad with crumbled blue cheese and stacked eggplant salad, to the ossobuco ravioli and chicken limoncello, to the pinot cake.
On May 18, 2020, La Bella closed its doors. Like so many restaurants, La Bella was hit hard by the restrictions from the pandemic. We said goodbye to our La Bella family on the same day as the 17th anniversary of our engagement. It was an incredibly hard day, filled with a rush of memories of every dinner and every family event. It’s been a hard feeling to shake, especially since we should have celebrated my nephew’s graduation there last June and my son’s engagement this past December. Everyone always just knew that if there was something to celebrate, it would be at La Bella. And while I am sad beyond words that we won’t be able to say that again, I want to be able to capture that feeling again – the love, happiness, nostalgia, and sense of family and community - that we felt every time we walked through the doors onto the black and white tiled floor.
Alla Famiglia!