Angelo Peluso

Angelo Peluso

Still cooking
Times, The (Trenton, NJ) - Wednesday, June 26, 2002
Author: SUSAN SPRAGUE YESKE, Food Editor

A 'Burg restaurant pioneer has knowledge to share in the
latest chapter in his culinary career
YARDLEY, Pa. _ Angelo Peluso sold La Gondola in 1995, closing
the chapter on 23 years spent honing his knowledge of Italian
restaurant cuisine and wines. During those years, he changed
the menu at his 'Burg restaurant from traditional Italian
-American fare of spaghetti and lasagna to Old World Italian
dishes, expanding his seafood selections and emphasizing food
and wine pairings. When Peluso gave up his restaurant, ''It was
time,'' he said. He wanted to spend more time with his family,
and ''Like anything else, you get tired of it.''
But closing La Gondola didn't mean closing the book on his
interest in Italian foods. And it didn't put an end to his
accumulation of culinary knowledge.
After retirement, he worked at several jobs in the food field
until three years ago when he opened Angelo Specialty Foods in
Yardley Town Center. There he dispenses Italian cheeses, meats,
grilled vegetables, olive oils, vinegars, pasta, seafood salad,
breads, biscotti, coffee, his own sauces and advice honed from
more than four decades in the field.''Food is like the World Cup.
Everyone knows about it and has an opinion,'' he said.''Good food,
good wine; it's the universal language.''
Customers searching for the right imported vinegar can pay less
than $10 or as much as $159 in his shop. There's no extra charge
for Peluso's advice on which vinegar is best for the customer's use.
''The most important thing is when you help people and they come
back and thank you,'' he said.
Peluso began his journey toward a culinary career in his mother's
kitchen after his family moved to Chambersburg from Calabria,
Italy, when he was 14.''My mother was a great cook,'' he said.
In later years she would cook for the family-owned Angelo's Meat
Market in the 'Burg, and still later for La Gondola.
The store proved an early impetus for Peluso's food education.
''My parents bought the store and I had to learn to be a butcher,''
he laughed. After opening La Gondola he joined GRI, an Italian
restaurant group that allied him with the best restaurants in New
York City. Then he went back to Italy to resume his education in
the country where some of Europe's greatest cuisine was born.
''I knew we had to change,'' he said. ''In New York they started
to break away from the established Italian American cooking and
switched to true Italian cooking.''It was worth the effort, he said.
''I learned from the best.'' At La Gondola, he created a cuisine
where simple was preferred, quality ingredients often would
stand alone or needed little embellishment. Or cooking.
Pelusa believes a true Italian marinara sauce should be cooked
only two to five minutes. ''Sauce is like meat; the more you cook
it, the more you reduce the flavor,'' he said.
Despite his absence from the Chambersburg restaurant scene, Peluso
is not forgotten. Alan Misner, co-owner of Marsilio's Restaurant
for 17 years, says he ate at La Gondola many times, and called
Peluso a mentor for the next generation of Trenton restaurateurs.
''He changed the way restaurants presented food and provided
service,'' said Misner. ''He was a pioneer in pairing wines with
foods and offering wine dinners in Trenton.''
''Restaurateurs like Lou Crecco and Angelo Peluso gave young,
up-and-coming restaurateurs like myself an opportunity to share
in the reputation for Italian cooking in Chambersburg,'' he said.
''He is missed.'' When Peluso started to look around for a place
to locate a store, he decided he wouldn't go back to the 'Burg,
which no longer has the large Italian population of his youth,
and where Porfirio's Italian Foods Inc. has long reigned.
Instead he chose Yardley, where an increasingly food-savvy
clientele is willing to travel from New Jersey and elsewhere in
Bucks County for his extensive list of products.
Peluso went into the specialty foods business with the same
enthusiasm as his other culinary endeavors, finding the best
pastas and pastries made in American Italian markets, and traveling
to Italy to make contact with vendors. Recent years have brought
a dramatic increase in Italian food imports, and his store has
benefited as a result.Today he offers 32 kinds of ravioli and a
variety of other handmade pastas. He makes his own cannoli and
sauce (puttanesca is a favorite) and sells only top-of-the-line
D.O.P. (protected designation of origin) canned San Marzano tomatoes.
Peluso's next dream is to write a book for restaurant customers.
''I've seen so many people make bad choices,'' he said, and
would like to teach them how to choose and judge a restaurant
and the components of a meal.
''I believe you should have an appetizer, pasta and an entree,''
he said. ''Don't eat too much bread and butter early, and then
you won't need a doggie bag later,'' he advises.
Judging a restaurant is a science, he said, and all eateries
can't be treated equally. ''You can't look at a pizza restaurant
the same way you look at a fine restaurant,'' he said.
One final word from the former restaurant owner: No matter where
you go, always leave at least 15 percent tip unless the service
is poor. ''They work hard,'' he said

UPDATE
JoeZ adds...
Great Post Mack. Angelo was a great host and for Roe and
I, LaGondola was the best.