About Us
"The restaurant is the brainchild of
Colorado native Lyle Koch, who attributes his love of cooking to his
mother. "My mother was a great cook and I liked cooking," he
explains. "I had to take a home economics class in school and the
teacher said I had a knack for cooking."
Lyle Koch
Proprietor
Antonella's
1701 Park Avenue,
San Jose, CA 95126
(408) 279-4922 -
From that beginning, Koch was invited to work with a
chef at Berlin's Grand Hotel in the mid-80s. In Europe, he was
introduced to chefs from Brindisi, Italy who wanted to learn about
western American cooking. They taught Koch the classic Italian cooking –
including his matchless fried calamari – that inspires the restaurant's
menu. "Keep it simple, keep it fresh," explains Koch. "You
make everything from scratch. You don't use bases. You make your own
sauces." Upon returning to the U.S., Koch went on to earn
degrees in culinary arts and restaurant and business management from Cal
Poly, Pomona. A job with Scott's Seafood in Palo Alto brought him
to the Bay Area. He was working for Pasta Pomodoro in San Jose when he
learned that then-vacant Antonella's pizzeria was sale and decided to
take the plunge. Koch chose Sept. 11, 2001 as opening day
for his new restaurant – something that caused the aspiring restaurateur
not a little worry as that historic day unfolded. "My Dad
called me and the next thing I saw was the plane hitting the World Trade
Center," he recalls. "I went ahead with the opening and people showed up
because they wanted to get away from the TV. We had free food and wine
that night." Today, more than six years later, Koch is still
in business and still hewing to his original vision. Nothing
in the restaurant is too trivial for his personal attention. He makes
the tomato sauce with fresh herbs and premium Italian canned tomatoes
from New York City's century-old Rao's Restaurant, made famous in
the 1970s by food critic Mimi Sheraton. "We have fresh
produce and seafood six days a week," Koch says proudly. "Our lasagna
has no ricotta cheese – just whole milk mozzarella. You will not find
one convenience food in this restaurant. My philosophy is: keep it
simple, keep it fresh, with honest prices and decent portions."
Above excerpt from an article by Carolyn Schuk's Feature "No Guarantees" for the Santa Clara Weekly: "Antonella's Keeps it Real April 16, 2008" ...rest of the article here
