Linguine alla pescatora
By J.A. Rollman Reading Eagle Correspondent Reprinted from the Reading Eagle Weekend Weekly Entertainment Guide
After successfully operating their West Reading sandwich and award-winning pizzeria business for 24 years, owners Lina and Albino Grande found their customers loved the entrees their new son-in-law Raffaele Cerandine, a native of Calabria, Italy, was preparing as daily additions to their menu.
As their business increased, the couple needed a larger dining area and kitchen; and recently moved to their elegant new GNA Ristorante & Pizzeria, which showcases Cerandine's cooking.
His homemade pasta is used in dishes such as linguine alla pescatora. Cerandine heats olive oil and sautes fresh minced garlic and diced onions. He adds calamari, shrimp, clams and mussels; covers and steams until the shellfish open and exude juices. He adds a splash of white wine, homemade fish stock, fresh peeled tomatoes and capers. He covers and simmers for five minutes, adds cooked linguine, tosses and scatters fresh basil on top and finishes with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil ($13.50 includes salad and fresh-baked Italian bread).
Two cavernous dining rooms are adorned with an Italian mural and paintings by local artist Tammy Updegrove Braunsberg, a massive wine rack, a working fireplace and Roman-style archways, along with Grande family photos. A cocktail lounge features big-screen TVs and wines by the glass, while an additional seating area is used for casual dining, pizzas and sandwiches.
Lina's ricotta balls baked in marinara sauce are a light and airy appetizer. And there's fried ($8.25) and sauteed ($8.50) calamari, seafood salad ($8.50), prosciutto and melon ($7.25) and antipasto ($8.75).
Veal dishes have been winning raves. Try piccata al limone (veal medallions in white wine lemon sauce with capers offered with homemade pasta in garlic and olive oil, $13.95). Or try one of five fish dishes - salmon in a prosecco, fresh tomato basil sauce ($14.50) or swordfish with capers olive oil, garlic and white wine over capellini ($14.50). A marinated Cornish hen is grilled with a hot stone on top ($13.50), and a 12 ounce broiled rib eye is drizzled with oil balsamic sauce and fresh herbs ($18.50).
Among homemade pastas you'll find gnocchi in four cheese sauce ($12.95), tortelloni stuffed with veal or cheese in cream sauce with peas and ham ($12.95), fettuccine alla Bolognese ($12.50) and tagliatelli marinara with meatballs or sausage ($9.50). Plus there's risotto with wild mushrooms ($13.95) and with seafood in red or white sauce ($13.95).
A host of contorni (side dishes) include broccoli rabe sauteed in garlic and olive oil ($3.95), steamed italian green beans, grilled zucchini and eggplant, steamed or grilled jumbo asparagus (all $3.75) and sauteed broccoli ($3.25)