It was June of 1984 when Italian immigrant Guido Barone opened a little pizza place in Ewing, naming it after his mother Rosa.
He called it, “Villa Rosa.”
A quarter-century later, Barone’s relatives are celebrating the Italian eatery’s 25th anniversary. Nowadays, the restaurant is more than just a pizza joint. Barone’s nephew, College of New Jersey graduate Vittorio Aconi, has improved the food with his culinary skills learned traveling in Italy.
The restaurant also hosts a wild game tasting event four times a year where exotic meats like boar, lion, antelope and bison are served. The menu has expanded to cover a whole range of specialty Italian food, and the physical restaurant has expanded to include take over the real estate office that was next door and turn it into an extra dining room, one just for the pizza parlor side of the business.
Aconi said there are more than 30 new items on the menu, mixing Italian rustic-style dishes with new, more elaborate ones. There are traditional dishes like chicken parmesan and spaghetti and meatballs as well as more adventurous fare like macaroni and cheese with truffle oil, chicken with port wine reduction, goat cheese and pears, and a slow-braised lamb shank. Aconi won an award from the Princeton Pallet cooking competition for his Penne Napoli Donna, which is penne pasta with sausage, mozzarella cheese, grape tomatoes and sambuca.
“We always have the classical dishes that people eat here two or three times a week,” Vittorio said. “All those long-time people want to come back for the same old same old. But a lot of people here want to try new things, thanks to the culinary boom.”
In addition to the gourmet dishes, Villa Rosa boasts a new line of desserts from the Classic Dessert Company located in Mt. Holly.
Fabio Aconi, visiting from Italy, said restaurant owner Nicola Aconi moved to America in after a career as an electrician in Italy serving on Italian navy ships. But when he came to the states, he got valuable experience working in New York City restaurants like the original Ray’s Pizza before deciding to open up Villa Rosa.
Vittorio Aconi is among the three generations of the clan working at the restaurant, going all the way up to grandparents Antinette and Vito Colicchio.
Nicola Aconi said the restaurant has been active in supporting the community over that quarter century. Villa Rosa sponsors a soccer team, and buys food from local suppliers when possible. For example, it buys its ice cream from Arctic Ice Cream.
Vittorio Aconi said that to celebrate Villa Rosa’s 25th anniversary, the restaurant is offering a 25 percent discount on everything on the menu Nov. 13 through 15. Villa Rosa is located at 41 Scotch Road in Ewing. For more information, call (609) 882-6841 or go online to villarosanj.com.
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