Joanne Trattoria Cookbook: Classic Recipes and Scenes from an Italian-American Restaurant by Germanotta Joe & Hoye Wenonah

Author:Germanotta, Joe & Hoye, Wenonah [Germanotta, Joe]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Post Hill Press
Published: 2016-11-21T16:00:00+00:00

Remembrances & Musings

I FIRST MET THE GERMANOTTAS when Gaga appeared on Oprah in early 2010. She was on tour and had just performed at the Rosemont Theater, just outside of Chicago. When I heard she was going to be on the show, I stayed up all night and cooked. I decided to make something healthy and something comforting. When she tried my fried chicken and waffles she said to Oprah, “You sent this master chef to make comfort food for me when I needed comforting.” It was the first time she had tried fried chicken and waffles.

Someone from Oprah hooked us up with tickets, so we went to watch Gaga perform that night. My husband, Jesus, and I met Joe and Cynthia for the first time backstage. I was immediately struck by what a supportive and loving family they are. What I love most about Gaga is how close she is with her father. Joe is the greatest stage-father that ever lived. He will always protect her.

In May 2011, Gaga appeared on Oprah’s last show and we had dinner with Joe and Cynthia at my restaurant, Table 52. Shortly after, Gaga invited me to appear in a cooking segment for her television special, A Very Gaga Thanksgiving , which was filmed at the Convent of the Sacred Heart, her former high school on the Upper East Side. Initially I had wanted to do my fried chicken and waffles, but she said, “It’s Thanksgiving; we need to do turkey.” So I took her grandmother’s recipe for Italian stuffing and infused my waffle recipe with crispy salami and pecorino cheese and served it with fried turkey.

~Chef Art Smith

WE MET CHEF ART THROUGH Stefani. He’s cooked for President Obama and Jeb Bush, and he was Oprah Winfrey’s personal chef for years. He was instrumental in helping us get the restaurant up and running. He spent a fair amount of time here after the renovations were done, getting us organized, and hiring staff. He told us what equipment to buy and hooked us up with vendors. We couldn’t have opened without him.

~ Joe Germanotta

JOE IS THE MOST GENEROUS man I have ever met. Any time Stefani has a concert or an event, he’ll always get tickets for all the staff. There have been so many times when he’s paid medical bills for members of the staff, myself included. When I had a herniated disc and it was getting to the point where I couldn’t even move my neck, the VA wanted to operate. Joe was skeptical about the surgery, so he sent me to his chiropractor for four months and paid for the whole thing.

~Travis Jones

AROUND THE TIME WE WERE working on the Thanksgiving special with Gaga, Jesus and I had dinner at the Columbus Citizens Foundation. Joe mentioned he was opening a restaurant and we decided to partner up. Shortly after we opened, Joe Manganiello held his after-party for Magic Mike at Joanne. It was a star-studded affair. I remember late into the evening, Joe sat with me on the stoop outside the restaurant and we shared a cigar.

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