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MY
ROUSES
EVERYDAY
SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2016
the
Italian
issue
G
race “Mama” Marino is a culinary
icon. In the 1960s she gave many
people in Baton Rouge their
first taste of authentic Sicilian food at her
restaurant, Gino’s.
Mama, as she is called by practically
everyone, was born in Agrigento, Sicily. She
and her husband Vincent and three children
Lorenzo (Laurence), Francesca (Frances)
and Gino immigrated to the United States
in 1958. The family spoke little English,
but they adapted. Vincent opened a liquor
distributorship on Perkins Road. Mama
followed with the restaurant in 1966. The
original location on Perkins across the
street from Vincent’s storefront was a cozy,
40-seat spot. Wax-draped Chianti candles
decorated the tables.
Mama had always been an avid cook, and
she quickly introduced many of her family’s
recipes from Agrigento to her customers in
Baton Rouge. One recipe was for a Sicilian
street food, arancini — rice balls stuffed
with ground beef that are coated with
breadcrumbs and deep-fried. Though they
are usually served with a ragú, or red sauce,
Mama thought people in Baton Rouge not
used to Sicilian-style food would prefer
their arancini plain. She quickly realized
she underestimated Baton Rouge’s worldly
palate and added the sauce.
The original Gino’s was so popular that
in the mid-seventies the Marinos decided
to expand. The family moved into their
current larger spot on Bennington Avenue
off College Drive.
Mama was the first recipient of the Baton
Rouge Epicurean Society’s Lifetime
Culinary Achievement Award. It has since
been named after her. Gino Marino says
that his mother’s motto has always been:
“use the best ingredients,” whether they are
Italian or local. “Mama is a fanatic about
good ingredients because you know that the
end result is going to be good,” says Gino, in
tribute to his mom.
But the real ingredient in Mama’s success
is family. “Not a day has gone by in the past
50 years where a family member hasn’t been
here,” Gino says.
Though Mama is now in her 90s and isn’t
at the restaurant as often, when she is,
customers know with a garnish of fresh
basil on each plate she makes. It’s her way
of letting people know Mama is home.
• • •
MANGIA ITALIANA!
LIKE A LOCAL
DiGiulio Brothers Italian Café on Perkins has
been serving Italian American classics like
five-cheese lasagna with a meatball, veal
Marsala and hand-tossed pizzas for 25 years.
It’s a great neighborhood restaurant with a
family feel.
Try the spaghetti and meatballs or
homemade lasagna at Monjunis Italian Café &
Grocery. This nearly 30-year-old restaurant is
famous for its red sauce. Just ask the readers
of 225 Magazine. They voted it Best of 225
two years in a row.
The Italian braided sesame Village Bread at
the Little Village is a must starter. The menu
has plenty of other favorites like toasted
ravioli, roasted artichokes with jumbo lump
crabmeat, veal Milanese and seafood arancini.
Two locations: Airline Highway and downtown
Baton Rouge.
When you want fine dining Italian, Nino’s on
Bluebonnet is a small and cozy farm-to-table
Italian restaurant serving carbonara with
house made guanciale, wild boar Bolognese,
antipasto with house cured charcuterie and
homemade desserts.
“Mama”
Grace Marino
“Gino’s is the most authentic old-
world Italian experience in town.
Overseeing it all is the legendary
Grace “Mama” Marino, a woman
whose culinary smarts and work
ethic go unmatched.”
—Jay Ducote,
Baton Rouge food blogger