THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 14, 1995 TAG: 9512120066
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Medium: 89 lines
Don't be surprised at being greeted by a 4-year-old maitre'd at Mama's Italian Kitchen in Ocean View on your next visit. That's just little Alberto Whittaker doing what comes naturally.
His mother, Patrizia, grew up in Mama's, helping her mother Giuseppina Loiercio and Alberto's late grandfather, for whom he is named. Back in the old country, in Naples to be specific, Giuseppina's father ran a restaurant for 45 years.
That's nearly a century of Italian food, and though little Alberto isn't actually on the payroll, you have to admire him for being ready to go to work.
``It's in his blood,'' says his grandmother, Giuseppina, her accent redolent of the fluid vowels of Italian.
The family came to the States two generations ago to open a restaurant in downtown Norfolk called Naples, then her husband Alberto cooked at the old Venice Ristorante (now Veneziano) on Granby Street before opening Mama's in Ocean View in 1951. They moved into the present location, a former bank building, in 1980. Their old location is now the parking lot; moving to their present location tripled their space. They now plan renovations - and a new menu - next spring.
Pat Whittaker laughs.
``I would do my homework at the restaurant after elementary school, and then one of my parents would come home with me and the other would work,'' she recalls. ``When I got older I started working in the restaurant.''
She has been working there ever since.
``But I don't work as many hours as my mother,'' Whittaker says.
Loiercio still comes in every day and runs the overall operation while her daughter supervises the wait staff and takes over whenever Mama is off.
``I work days and go home at night,'' Whittaker says.
The Mama the restaurant is named for isn't Giuseppina but her husband's mama, Caterina.
``And many customers remember my other grandmother, Fernanda, who used to sit right up front and greet customers with a smile,'' Whittaker says. ``She didn't speak English, but she would sit and nod and the customers never knew she didn't understand a word they said.''
Mama's is a family-run operation that is family-oriented as well. During the day, Mama's attracts many customers from the nearby military bases, Whittaker says.
``We get going-away parties, and large groups for lunch, and even at night there are a lot of Navy families who come here,'' she says.
A look at the prices can explain why Mama's is a popular place with moms and pops. With dozens of pasta and macaroni dishes - ranging from spaghetti with tomato sauce ($5) or calamari, shrimp, clam and cartoccio ($15), to linguine with red or white clam sauce ($8.50) or rigatoni with meat sauce ($6.50) - and a dozen or so veal dishes (veal scaloppini Marinara, $8.50, or veal Parmigiana, $7.50, with a side of pasta), Mama's is a bargain.
Other dishes include ravioli with mushroom sauce ($5.75) or homemade Italian sausage ($6.75), fettuccine Alfredo or linguine alla carbonara ($7), baked stuffed lasagna with meat sauce ($6.95), stuffed peppers Napolitana ($7.50) and homemade ricotta (cheese) manicotti with meat sauce ($6.95).
Mama's offers a variety of steaks (a 10-ounce Delmonico for $10), seafood (broiled scallops or flounder with butter and lemon for $5.85, or fried flounder for $5.25) and chicken dishes (a quarter-chicken Cacciatoria-style, $ 5.25, or a boned breast of chicken Parmigiana, $6.60). Fried calamari ($8), the Greek salad ($4.50), and minestrone soup or pasta with chicken broth ($2), are all very popular, I'm told, and sandwiches such as meat balls or sausage with mozzarella ($2.25) are popular as well.
Pizzas are $5.50 for a small tomato and cheese pie, or $10 for the large deluxe, and a Calzoni Imbottito (with salami, provolone, mozzarella, Parmesan and ricotta cheeses, ham and pepperoni) is $10. Bambini may order from a children's menu - spaghetti with meat sauce for $2.75, or ravioli with a meat ball for $3, to name a couple. Desserts include spumoni ($1.75), cannoli ($2.25) and Baba Rhum cake ($2.50).
I could go on. There's much more on the menu. Mama's is as comfortable and cozy as an old sweater, one of the last of a kind - a family-run Italian restaurant with more than a touch of the old country. MEMO: AT A GLANCE
Mama's Italian Kitchen: 180-182 W. Ocean View Ave.; 587-4262.
Food: Calabrian, Neapolitan and other regional cuisines of Italy,
steaks, seafood and salads; full ABC.
Prices: most entrees in $6 to $8 range; weekend evening special
$8.95-$9.95.
Hours: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by SAM MARTINETTE
Giuseppina Loiercio and daughter Pat Whittaker run Mama's Italian
Kitchen.
by CNB