Tutto Italiano Owner Living His Childhood Dream

Robert Palizzolo learned to love cooking from his grandmother, who used to have him grate cheese and do other jobs in the kitchen when he was a small boy.

She also used to play store with him. Pretending to sell cans of tomatoes back and forth, the two would play for hours.

Nearly four decades later, as the owner and cook at the specialty Italian store and take-out restaurant Tutto Italiano in downtown Wellesley, Palizollo's childhood game has come true.

"I always wanted to do it, to cook and own a store, and it's amazing that now I have this whole thing," Palizzolo said. "And she got to see it before she died."

Palizzolo, 41, didn't start out as a cook however.

He started out laying tile, but he said he was always getting laid off from his job.

With cooking on his mind, he enrolled at the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts. But before he attended his first class he found himself behind the counter at the original Tutto Italiano in Hyde Park.

"I always used to go in there and I'd talk to Angelo and tell him I wanted to get in the business, that I love to cook." said Palizzolo. "So he told me it wouldn't be a lot of money, but I could work with him, learn and see if I liked it."

"He", is Angelo Locilento, owner of the Tutto Italiano in Hyde Park and the original owner of the Wellesley location.

As a mentor to Palizzolo, Locilento taught him the business and eventually let him run the Washington Street store.

In 1997 Palizzolo took over, buying new awnings, planting flowers out front and giving away free sandwiches to commuters coming from the train station across the street. He now owns the place, cooking his famous meatballs, lasagna, pasta and other Italian specialties in the kitchen behind the back counter.

Meatballs are made every two or three days in 20 pound batches from a recipe he learned from his grandmother. Sausage is made fresh every Wednesday.

The chicken cutlets, an occasional special, are freshly pounded, breaded with homemade breadcrumbs and other "secret ingredients."

"They're good, but we can't keep up with the demand so I only make them when I can," he said.

Palizzolo also makes his own Italian Wedding Soup, Pasta Fagiloi, eggplant parmigiano and an assortment of sandwiches on Italian bread and rolls delivered fresh daily.

"The sauce is my own recipe that I developed through trial and error, but Angelo taught me how to make the sausage and fresh mozzarella," he said.

The fresh mozarella is another of Palizzolo's homemade specialties that is hard to keep in stock.

He also improvises. On Saturday he had about 30 pounds of potatoes and no specific plans for them. So he quartered a few of them, seasoned them with olive oil, rosemary and some other staples from his kitchen and roasted them.

"They were a big hit, we sold a lot of them today," he said, planning to make more with an addition of sliced onions for next week.

Palizzolo shared one of his favorite recipes for roast prime rib of beef that he often makes for family and friends.

Roast Prime Rib of Beef

One large prime rib - approximately 15 pounds

dijon mustard

cup olive oil

horseradish

salt

pepper

cayenne pepper

onion powder

garlic powder

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Take the roast out of the refrigerator about half an hour before you're ready to roast.

Prepare a paste by combining the dijon mustard, olive oil and spices. Palizzolo uses about two cups of mustard and a quarter to half cup of olive oil for a 15 pound roast and is generous with the spices using about a cup of horseradish. Rub the paste all over the beef and cook in a 350 degree oven.

Palizzolo takes the beef out of the oven when it's at 110 degrees, which is rare.