That's Amore!

I'm an avid reader of Retail Watch in the Morning Call newspaper. When I saw an article about the opening of That's Amore, I immediately knew that I had to try it. The restaurant is located in the building that once housed Pane e Vino, my favorite Italian eatery.

Joseph Jurkivo, the man behind the new restaurant, started off as a busboy at Pane e Vino. He later became the chef at Mama Nina's Foccacheria, on Main Street in downtown Bethlehem, before leaving to start up That's Amore. Many of the items on That's Amore's menu are from Mama Nina's, but the one thing missing is pizza. Jay and I didn't mind because the menu was filled with plenty of other mouth watering choices.

Pictured: interior of restaurant

Pictured: Jay, waiting for lunch to be served
We split a plate of garlic rolls, the same kind that we were accustomed to at Pane e Vino. We also split an order of bruschetta (bread topped with tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, onions, balsamic reduction, basil and garlic). I had the stuffed pepper appetizer and Jay ordered eggplant parmigiana over pasta.

Pictured: bread loaded with garlic and oil

Pictured: bruschetta appetizer

Pictured: stuffed pepper (appetizer)

Pictured: eggplant parmigiana over pasta
The food was excellent. The portions were way too big, especially my stuffed pepper, but now we have leftovers. My stuffed pepper was one of the best peppers I've ever had. It was served over fresh spinach, which was both pretty and a nice way to add more vegetables to the dish. The pepper was stuffed with a mixture of ground beef, sausage and pine nuts. The nuts added a wonderful flavor.

We'll definitely be going back again in the future. There were quite a few dishes we'd like to try. One word of warning: we went on a Saturday afternoon and didn't see any of the lunch options on the menu. I'm guessing that panini, cheesesteak and hero sandwich choices are only available during the week.