INGOOD TASTE
Candid conversations with the dining scene’s most engaging chefs
Joe Reale, Co-Founder,
Arancini House
Arancini House
615 Washington Road, Terrace Level
Café (below street level), Mt. Lebanon;
412.561.0400, arancinihouse.com
On the Menu:
Begin with the Breakfast Sandwich, which
comes with two farm-fresh eggs fried
in extra-virgin olive oil and topped with
American cheese on a choice of croissant,
white toast or plain bagel (imported from
Brooklyn, New York) and a side of tater
tots. Next on the list are Arancini menu
options including The Original (Bolognese
meat sauce with peas), Al Burro (Bécha-
mel cream sauce, prosciutto di cotto and
peas), and Banana Pepper (hot sau-
sage-stuffed banana peppers, marinara
and provolone). Then there is Antipasti
(or Appetizers) of Wedding Soup (chicken
broth, escarole, mini meatballs, chicken,
carrots and pastina—cup or bowl), House
Salad (chopped Romaine and spring mix,
roasted red peppers, chickpeas, olives, ar-
tichokes, cherry tomatoes, and fresh moz-
zarella pearls with red wine vinaigrette or
ranch dressing), Zucchini Fries served with
lemon and house marinara, and Mozza-
rella Sticks served with house marinara.
Street Food (Cibo di Strada) ranges from
a Panelle Sandwich (chickpea fritters and
lemon with a house-made sesame roll),
Pepperoni Roll made with whole-milk
mozzarella, an SPO Roll (house-made
sausage, green peppers, onions, whole-
milk mozzarella and house marinara),
Meatball Roll and an Eggplant Parm
Roll, to an Italian Sub with baked Genoa
salame, mortadella, capicolla, mozzarella
and Italian vinaigrette and the Prosciutto
Caprese Sandwich made with prosciutto,
fresh mozzarella, beefsteak tomato and
basil baked on a house sesame bun. The
New York Style Pizza offerings include a
Margherita Pizza with fresh tomato sauce,
fresh mozzarella and basil; the White
Pizza with extra-virgin olive oil, beefsteak
tomatoes and whole-milk mozzarella; the
Sicilian Square, a thicker pizza made with
fresh dough; and the Create-Your-Own
Pizza for a custom creation.
Describe Arancini House.
Amazing Sicilian street food.
In Sicily, there’s street food
everywhere — at the markets
or at the airport they sell Arancini or the
Panelle sandwich, for example. It’s nothing to
see people walking around in Sicily holding
one like it’s an apple. There’s a labor of love
and a lot that goes into it. It’s comfort food,
too. It started out as a peasant food and the
original working man’s meal. They would grab
whatever was left over and have meat and peas
and stuff everything inside. [Here, we use]
all my father-in-law’s family recipes. We owe
it all to him, Emanuel LaCommare (Manny
is his nickname)—he really is the patriarch
of our business. My sister-in-law, Adriana, is
a huge part of the operations here, too. Most
of Manny’s family still lives in Sicily and the
recipes date more than 100 years ago. A lot of
Sicilians make and serve Arancini. They are rice
balls, and when they try ours they’re blown
away. One of our customers visited Sicily and
ate an Arancini. He told the server he found
Arancini in Mt. Lebanon that are better.
Q A
What led you to open Arancini House?
I worked in e-comm in customer service
and high-level operations. Manny was a
commissary manager for 19 years and we were
both laid off at the same time. We started out
Joe Reale, co-founder, Arancini House.
wanting to do business together and to go
into catering, but we went the restaurant route
instead. We decided on Arancini House and
searched for a restaurant space. We were shown
the place we’re in now. When we checked
it out, all of the chairs were orange. We felt
the stars aligned and it was a sign—because
Arancini means “little oranges.” We opened in
the fall of 2014.
What is your favorite dish on the menu?
Nothing will compare to The Original Arancini
with Bolognese meat sauce and peas. A close
second is our Wedding Soup. I can close my
eyes and point my finger at the menu and pick
something good.
What kitchen tool can’t you live without?
A wooden spoon—we’ve got to stir the risotto
with a wooden spoon, and it’s kind of the way
it’s been made throughout the years.
Other than Arancini House, where is your
favorite place to eat in Pittsburgh?
I like so many places. We love Meat and
Potatoes downtown and we always know we’ll
have a great meal every time we go.
What advice can you share
with a novice?
Get a mentor and go to a place you like and
ask to speak to the manager or owner. You
want to keep people around you who lift you
as you climb so then you can lift someone in
return. When everyone eats, everyone’s happy.
Knowledge always continues to give, but
money will come and go.
What’s the next big food or dining trend?
A resurgence of the Mom-and-Pop shops
that offer fast casual—it’s what people want
because the dining world is changing. As long
as you care about what you serve, the type
of food doesn’t matter. Serve good food and
treat people well—that’s what they want. Also,
Pittsburgh has brewpubs and we see them pop
up more and more. We have more breweries
now than we’ve ever had. Cheers to that. n
The delectable display case at Arancini House in Mt. Lebanon.
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—Reese Randall