Old-School Italian Dinner: Join us on April 20, 2026
Chef Claudio’s mom (center) with his aunt and uncle at a family dinner in Italy.
Nonna's Dinner: The Menu and the Stories Behind It
Some recipes live in cookbooks. The best ones live in memory — in the smell of a kitchen on Sunday morning, in a grandmother's hands moving without a recipe, in a table full of people who already know what's coming and can't wait anyway.
This spring, we asked our community to share the dishes that defined their family tables. The response was overwhelming, and delicious. The recipes you submitted became the foundation of Nonna's Dinner — a menu built not just from ingredients, but from stories.
April 20, 2026 | 6:30pm
On April 20, we’ll gather for a five-course, family-style Italian dinner, crafted from the selected Nonna recipes and served the way it always should be — meant to pass, share, and savor together.
The evening includes:
Five-course family-style dinner (see below)
Pre-selected table wines
A live dinner show featuring Diva Montell and Jeorge Holmes singing Italian Classics and more. Learn more about the performers here jeorgeholmes.com and www.divamontell.com.
Here's what we're serving, and the people behind it.
The Menu
Antipasti (Family Style)
Nonna Meatballs Pork and beef meatballs in a rich tomato sugo, toasted crostini
Focaccia Warm ricotta, wildflower honey, toasted nuts
Stuffed Calamari Breadcrumbs and pecorino stuffed calamari, garlic and white wine sauce
Olive all'Ascolana Meat-stuffed and fried Castelvetrano olives, arrabbiata sauce
Primi (Family Style)
Paccheri with Pork Neck Ragù
Baked Ziti Tetrazzini
Secondi (Family Style)
Braciole Beef braciole and roasted garlic mashed potatoes
Pollo Vesuvio Organic chicken Vesuvio style with sautéed rapini
Dolci
Zuppa Inglese
Canescione Cookies
The Stories
Nonna Cali's Meatballs Submitted by John Fasso
Sunday meant meatballs. Every week, Nonna Cali made them in her rich tomato sugo — always served with crusty bread and grated parm. No occasion required. That was the occasion.
Petrucci Family Focaccia Submitted by Linda Petrucci
Always served warm. This is a dish the Petrucci family has made for generations, and somehow it keeps getting better. Some things are just like that.
Nonna Gibson's Stuffed Calamari Submitted by Jackie (Nonna) Gibson
"My Nonni always made these to begin our Christmas dinner. We could not wait!"
Breadcrumbs, pecorino, garlic, white wine — and decades of anticipation built right in.
Tortoriello Family Braciola Submitted by Anthony Tortoriello
Anthony's mom made braciole for special Sunday dinners. He carried the recipe into a restaurant kitchen on Taylor Street — Mamma Sue's — where one evening a friend of the owner came through the back and asked what was good.
Anthony told him: braciole.
The man said he didn't like Mickey's braciole. Anthony said he didn't either, and that he made it differently. One plate later, the man was a convert — and Mickey came back to the kitchen wanting to know what the ef Anthony had made for Johnny.
Anthony has been making it for his own family on special Sundays ever since.
Nonna Germena Benedetta Recchia's Canescione Cookies Submitted by Jackie Thunberg
"Easter was always a tradition in our family. I recall the feeling of new beginnings with the promise of spring. We dressed up, went to church, followed by a family gathering. Plants and flowers were commonly exchanged as gifts along with Italian cookies and candies in our Easter baskets.
My cousins would make a piñata out of paper mache, and even Nonna would take a few blindfolded swings as it hung from the clothesline in the backyard in East Detroit. We'd always gather around the table, thankful for our food, our family, and all of our blessings."
These cookies are the taste of that table.
Join Us
Nonna's Dinner is a celebration of the recipes that have been carried forward — from nonnas to kitchens to tables full of people who love each other. We're honored to serve them.
Submissions are closed. Thank you to everyone who participated!
Submit Your Family Recipe for Lucca’s Nonna Dinner
Some recipes are written down. Others are remembered by heart.
Join us at Lucca Osteria & Bar for a one-night-only, April 20, Old-School Italian Nonna Dinner — a five-course, family-style experience inspired by real family recipes from our community.
A Community-Built Menu
This isn’t just a dinner. It’s a celebration of the recipes that showed up at every holiday, every Sunday, every family gathering that ran longer than planned. The whole idea is for our guests to send us their beloved family recipes.
We’re selecting five winning family recipes to build a five-course menu.
Each winning dish will be:
Prepared by Lucca’s culinary team
Served family-style
Credited to the family who submitted it
Shared alongside the story behind the recipe
And each winner will receive two complimentary dinners that evening to experience their family’s dish on Lucca’s table. It doesn’t need to be perfect. Some of the best recipes never were. If you have a recipe that deserves a spotlight, now’s the time.
Submissions close March 30, 2026. Winners must be present at the dinner on April 20.
We hope to see you there!
Every family has that one dish. The one everyone requests. The one that tastes like childhood. The one that brings someone back to the table. This dinner is about honoring those recipes and the people behind them. From Nonna’s kitchen… to ours… to your table.
We can’t wait to see what you submit.
