ANNOUNCER: The following program was produced in the Dr. Keiko Miwa Ross WPSU Production Studio in University Park, Pennsylvania.

[music playing] TAMRA FATEMI-BADI (VOICEOVER): Food, a basic necessity.

We all need nutrients to survive and thrive.

Whether your meals come from the field, the fridge, the treasured family recipe, or the takeout menu, something special happens when we come together to share a meal and a common bond.

Culinary Connections is where we celebrate the people and places that use food to connect with the world around them.

Today, we meet two generations of the Tate family, who have been serving exquisite Italian cuisine to the communities of DuBois and Clymer, PA for more than 40 years.

Food is our love language.

Sit down.

Let's eat.

So you can go into your pan and about two minutes on each side.

TAMRA FATEMI-BADI (VOICEOVER): Later, Chef Ryan demonstrates the Luigi's way to make chicken parmesan.

I'm Tamra Fatemi-Badi, and welcome to Culinary Connections.

ANNOUNCER: Culinary Connections is made possible in part by The Rockwell Foundation, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, supporting the arts, science, technology, and education-- and a proud supporter of local programs on WPSU.

[music playing] The Allegheny National Forest Visitors Bureau, the DuBois Area Endowment for WPSU, and by viewers like you.

[upbeat music] EDDIE TATE: Food is our love language.

[upbeat music continues] Whether you're here for the first time off the interstate, whether you're a relative that I haven't seen for a while-- because we've been up here for years now.

Sit down.

Let's eat.

We were children driving through Brockway.

EDDIE TATE: I feel that people have genuinely come to know us, that our hearts are in it.

[cheering] TAMRA FATEMI-BADI: Luigi's Ristorante in DuBois is very much a family story about a pair of family-run restaurants in Central Pennsylvania.

And it starts with two brothers-- little brother, Eddie.

EDDIE TATE: My name is Eddie Tate.

I am co-owner of Luigi's Ristorante in downtown historic DuBois.

TAMRA FATEMI-BADI (VOICEOVER): And big brother, Louis, co-owner of the original Luigi's, an hour's drive south in Clymer.

LOUIS TATE: I truly don't even sometimes get how we even did it.

[light music] EDDIE TATE: My brother and I started down in a little town in Indiana County called Clymer, Pennsylvania.

LOUIS TATE: Four sisters and three boys in a tiny little house down the street.

My uncle lived across from us and the other uncle behind him.

All my aunts and uncles lived here, and you knew everybody.

So it was like the compound on The Godfather.

[light music continues] EDDIE TATE: Right Out of high school, I got a job in the coal mines.

Back then, if you got a job in the coal mines, that was like a golden ticket.

And I'm working in the coal mines.

And I was living with my brother, Louis, who was working in our family business, Tate's supermarket.

LOUIS TATE: We all worked at the supermarket-- my brothers, and sisters, and cousins.

And my father said, you all can't stay at the supermarket.

EDDIE TATE: I came home from work.

I'm washing my lunchbox.

My brother, Louis, is having a discussion with my dad.

LOUIS TATE: There's not enough room for everybody.

I think you and your brothers should venture out and buy that tavern up the street that's for sale.

EDDIE TATE: And I overheard them.

And I said, if you're going to do this, please include me.

And they did.

It was my brother and I that ended up taking the ship out into open water.

Our mom and dad continued to keep an eye on things and intervene.

They insisted, because they were so adamant about run a tight ship.

Every dollar matters.

Every customer matters.

Every employee matters.

TAMRA FATEMI-BADI (VOICEOVER): The brothers worked hard.

And Luigi's built such a reputation that 20 years later, they got a call to start a second restaurant in DuBois, where an oral surgeon named Dr. Jeffrey Rice was leading a redevelopment effort.

LOUIS TATE: He was buying all those old buildings in downtown DuBois.

They were all closed up because of the mall.

When it went in, it decimated the downtown.

TAMRA FATEMI-BADI (VOICEOVER): Dr. Rice suggested the brothers open a new Luigi's in an abandoned department store on the main drag.

EDDIE TATE: This building used to be a department store, Troutman's department store.

It was vacant for almost 12 years.

In my heart, I had a vision.

I wanted my own store.

And as much as I love my brother, I wanted that self-actualization for my own, to see if I could do it myself.

And ever since then, we have been blessed with a success story.

[upbeat music] My grandfather was from the Abruzzo region of Italy.

My grandmother was from Calabria.

And it was her recipes that we follow to this day-- this whole thing of homemade sauce, homemade meatballs, making it right, generous portions.

There are always leftovers at Luigi's.

[playful music] TAMRA FATEMI-BADI (VOICEOVER): That dedication to food and family has continued through generations.

The torch now passed to Eddie's daughter, Mia.

I spend a lot of my time here, and it's like a second home to me.

Coming in as soon as I walk in the back door, I can remember back maybe till about third or fourth grade with my dad, before the bus would come for school and helping him make the dough and roll out pizzas for the day.

I worked my way up through each position in the kitchen.

And I remember when I turned 18, I could start serving.

I've grown ever since, and I keep learning new things every day.

TAMRA FATEMI-BADI (VOICEOVER): When Mia left for college, she thought she might want to be a teacher.

But her heart always led her back to the family business.

Growing up in the industry, I always thought it was the easy way out to go into the restaurant field.

But I realized it was my passion, and I then started into the hospitality management courses, and then furthered my education at the Pennsylvania State University.

TAMRA FATEMI-BADI (VOICEOVER): Where soon after, she met her future husband.

MIA MARGOLIES: We hit it off.

We both relocated back to DuBois together.

And he was able to take over the kitchen and really fulfill his passion there.

Our first date was making eggplant together.

I think every important moment in some way has been connected to food.

TAMRA FATEMI-BADI (VOICEOVER): And for the young couple, there were few moments more important than the night in Luigi's, when Ryan proposed.

[music playing] Luigi's has become such a large part of our life, so it only seemed natural that it should happen here.

I had no idea about the proposal, and he had a whole thing planned.

He had a little boombox.

And our favorite song was turned on.

And I was asked to come back to help a table.

And then, lo and behold, there was Ryan on one knee on New Year's Eve.

And I was like, who is calling me back here and taking me from the host stand?

So it's a wonderful memory.

We laugh about it today.

Mia and Ryan's hearts are genuinely in it.

She's the general manager.

Ryan is the head chef.

They work well together.

It humbles me how it all went in full circle, because now the employees are looking for Mia or her husband.

They're not looking for me.

But I'm sure they'll keep me around to clear tables.

[energetic music] TAMRA FATEMI-BADI (VOICEOVER): At Luigi's, upholding traditions and traditional recipes is a must.

And the daily culinary ritual starts at 3:00 in the morning, when Ryan turns on the lights and makes the classic red sauce.

RYAN MARGOLIES: That is something that we've held extremely strongly to tradition, making sure we roast the pork and beef bones, making sure we use fresh produce, making sure we use fresh, ripe-- vine-ripe tomatoes from California.

And really, the sauce touches almost everything that we serve here.

EDDIE TATE: And it simmers all morning into the afternoon.

As you can imagine, it's like wine.

You never serve it before its time.

It has to be perfect.

And how can you go wrong with a true classic spaghetti dish?

So that's my go-to on a busy night.

It's quick.

It's easy.

And it's delicious.

So I'll get a big plate of spaghetti with a homemade meatball and our delicious sauce.

But really, it comes down to the cooks and the people we have here, putting their genuine time into it.

The people that really care are the absolute and complete backbone of everything we do here.

CHEF (VOICEOVER): OK, 1, 2, 3.

(SINGING) Happy birthday to you.

EDDIE TATE: We are a sense of extended family.

We work alongside of our people.

We lead by example.

And we treat them like human beings.

So we work well together.

We're a good team.

[cheers, applause] There's plenty of liveliness in our kitchen, when it's buzzing on a busy day or busy night.

EDDIE TATE (VOICEOVER): My name is Eddie.

What's your name?

But I gotta tell you, one of the things I enjoy the most is the customer interaction.

We meet them from Long Island, traveling West.

We meet them from Chicago, traveling East.

My father is such an integral part of visiting tables and speaking with our guests.

He creates such an awesome connection in such a short amount of time.

He has a gift for that.

And that, to me, is something that I have big shoes to fill there.

And I will definitely keep him around to keep talking with those guests and making those relationships.

And I hope to learn a lot from him in that aspect.

TAMRA FATEMI-BADI (VOICEOVER): Family owned restaurants like Luigi's are the backbone of small town America, providing a central space for people to meet, share meals, and build community.

EDDIE TATE: We are committed to staying actively involved in this wonderful community of DuBois, Pennsylvania.

Sometimes, we will do fundraisers called dine-out days, where the organization will come in and spend the entire day here up front at their table, which is dressed for their occasion with information about their organization.

And at the end of the day, they get a percentage of the sales.

And most, if not all of them, have been extremely successful.

TAMRA FATEMI-BADI (VOICEOVER): And when the COVID pandemic closed down in-person dining, the staff stepped up their catering operations.

MIA MARGOLIES: We were feeding up to 200 to 300 people when the restaurants were closed.

And we were packaging personalized meals.

And that was great to know that we were being able to provide quality food in a time of need.

Whenever they may think of who can help, Luigi's hopefully will always be on that list.

TAMRA FATEMI-BADI (VOICEOVER): As much as Luigi's has embraced their community, it's clear that from the diners, the feeling is mutual.

EDDIE TATE (VOICEOVER): Then How many years have you been together?

Luigi's is my favorite place in town.

So I like their eggplant parmesan.

I like their chicken romano.

It's just all good.

First day that they opened here, and that was our first day to eat here, and it was delicious.

And we just keep coming back all the time.

The service is great.

We only live three miles away.

So the car knows the way here.

We come at least two times a week, and sometimes three, or once in a while four.

[laughs] Our fixture is up there somewhere.

[laughs] In my heart, I wanted to prove that we could duplicate what happened in Clymer.

And heart and soul, hard work, blessed with a wonderful staff-- everything fell into place.

And we've been warmly received.

[upbeat music] Mia and Ryan, welcome to the Culinary Connections kitchen.

Thank you so much for having us.

Great.

It was so much fun being at the restaurant, and everything you did there was wonderful.

Thank you for having us out.

It was a pleasure to host and share our home with you all.

So thank you for being there.

All right, Chef Ryan, what are you going to make for us today?

Today, we're going to be making chicken parm, one of our classic dishes at Luigi's, featuring our boneless, skinless chicken breast with a homemade breadcrumb.

OK. Mia, we will have you come back in as soon as we get things going here.

Thank you so much.

OK.

So today, we have our chicken parmesan.

We have a boneless and skinless chicken breast.

We're going to make an egg wash for that.

We have eggs here.

[cracks egg] TAMRA FATEMI-BADI: And is this one of the more popular dishes at the restaurant?

Yeah.

I would say we sell probably about 200 a week of these dishes.

So I'd say it's one of our most popular dishes at the restaurant for sure.

OK, great.

I noticed you have a-- let's call it a Pennsylvania beer here.

Is that something unusual to find in a chicken parmesan?

Yes, it is.

We find that the carbonation from the beer helps make the crust of the chicken airier and crispier-- helps.

And also, the sugars from the beer help caramelize the breading after it's fried.

So-- TAMRA FATEMI-BADI: And it gives a little extra flavor.

Yeah, a little extra depth of flavor for sure.

So you'll pour that mixture over your chicken.

Oh, I see.

So you're not dipping the chicken.

You're actually putting that all over the chicken.

RYAN MARGOLIES: I like to make sure it's submerged, definitely to help give the chicken some flavor there.

And then we have our three main ingredients for our breading.

We take our homemade bread that we make every day in-house at Luigi's.

And we add parsley, basil, oregano, onion, and garlic to that mixture.

TAMRA FATEMI-BADI: Wow.

RYAN MARGOLIES: And then we grind that in-house.

Then we have a Pecorino Romano that we use.

This is usually aged for three to five months.

We get this in 65-pound wheels of cheese, and we also grind this down.

For that, we mix about 40% breadcrumb and 40% of the cheese.

And then lastly, to give it a very good coat, we use a fine flour, about 20% of that.

And that helps everything stick together there.

So I'll massage the chicken into that egg there to make sure it's fully coated.

Take the chicken, and make sure it's fully coated on both sides.

So these were pre-pounded chicken breasts, right?

These were pre-pounded to tenderize them.

You want them to be as even as possible, so they cook thoroughly and evenly.

And once that's breaded well on both sides, you can go into your pan and about two minutes on each side.

Put this chicken here.

Great.

I love that sizzle.

RYAN MARGOLIES: Yes, yeah.

TAMRA FATEMI-BADI: I guess, that's what you want to see and hear.

Right?

RYAN MARGOLIES: Yeah.

TAMRA FATEMI-BADI: You want create your good, hot oil.

RYAN MARGOLIES: A good hot oil is probably the most important.

And we actually use a mixture.

We have grapeseed oil, avocado oil, and olive oil.

They're different burning temperatures.

If you use a straight olive oil, in stead, tend to get a little bit too high of a burn point.

So we mix in some grapeseed oil, which has a very high burn point, and then a little bit of avocado oil also just for a little bit more flavor.

So we'll let that cook for about two minutes on each side.

You'll want to see some browning on the edges there.

All right, great.

And I'd say you're getting-- looking pretty good.

You're going to want a nice golden crust on there.

TAMRA FATEMI-BADI: Very nice.

RYAN MARGOLIES: And then in about another two minutes, I'll put in there.

TAMRA FATEMI-BADI: So tell me a little bit more about how you got into Italian cooking.

I actually started-- my grandfather is Italian.

And he did all the cooking at home.

He would do clams, and mussels, and olive oil, and garlic-- sausage, and peppers, and potatoes.

So that's kind of where the love letter of cooking started, just from watching him.

With my grandparents, that was-- It sounds like a very traditional, old world style of Italian cooking.

They were extremely old school.

They were very particular on their methods of cooking, their ingredients, and their recipes-- wanting to keep everything the same and wanting to keep, I think, a sense of tradition alive where you stuck with the way it was done.

And you didn't veer too much from those recipes.

So you had a little bit of an idea of what you were getting into when you met Mia.

I did.

Large family gatherings, 20 cousins and piled in the basement Christmas morning, waiting to open gifts and that kind of thing.

I think, maybe that's the main message behind food for the last however many thousands of years.

It's that first thing that's passed down.

That first thing that's really shared as a community, as a family is sharing the recipes and sharing the love, I think, of cooking and the meaning behind it for each family.

And I would say that is looking very good there.

And you have a very nice crisp on both sides, golden brown.

I'm going to get as much of that oil off there as possible.

And then another thing that we do a little bit differently is you could let it cook in the pan the whole way.

But to get it a little bit more tender and to keep those juices locked in there, at Luigi's, we actually cook this for 20 to 25 minutes to a 165 internal temperature.

And then once it comes out, we'll sauce and cheese it, and then just pop it back in the oven for about three to five minutes.

So we're going to put that in the oven?

Yep.

All right.

And if you have a convection oven at home, I would say 375.

And if you have a traditional oven, about 400 degrees should work perfectly for you.

OK. We have our red sauce heating up here, and we'll just cook that on very low just to let that warm up.

All right, Chef Ryan.

I think our chicken, you said, should be just about ready?

Yes, it is all ready to go.

There we go.

So this chicken is all cooked.

Now we'll top it with our homemade red sauce, and add some cheese on there, and just put it in the oven just for a little bit just to melt it there.

Oh, it already smells so good.

And then we use a 50/50 cheese.

It's 50% mozzarella and 50% provolone.

Also, just to give it a little bit different flavor there than just straight mozzarella.

TAMRA FATEMI-BADI: So a lot of complex flavors going on.

That's great.

And that looks good there.

And then I would say three more minutes should be perfect.

Great.

All right then.

So, Mia, why don't you come on back over and let's talk a little bit more about Luigi's.

So one of the things that we noticed in doing all of these shows that we've been doing is that it's almost unusual these days to find such a long-standing family restaurant in communities.

And we noticed that Luigi's really is a base for the community.

You have so many groups that meet there on a regular basis, people who use it for various family celebrations.

What does that mean to the family, to know that Luigi's is such a community treasure?

It's a great feeling to have such, be a staple in the community, to have events gather-- special events.

I mean, even our own family, being as large as it is, has had Christmas Eve dinners at our restaurant.

So we can have everyone fit.

We do the seven fishes on Christmas Eve as Italian tradition.

And it's happened at our Clymer Luigi's location before, many times.

But we are honored that we are thought of as that special occasion restaurant where you can come celebrate, be treated like family, taken care of.

Sometimes, if it's your birthday, your treat instead of a sweet treat will be a loaf of bread with a candle in it from Eddie.

That's so sweet.

Do the kids enjoy that?

Or would they rather-- Yes.

The bread is just as good as a cake, huh?

Yes.

Great.

What is your favorite dish at the restaurant?

Oh, I love all pasta and all Italian food.

I could eat pasta every day.

But today, what we're making, chicken Parmesan is truly delicious.

It's a signature dish, nice and light.

And it just hits the spot every time with our homemade red sauce.

Well, why don't we check and see how the cheese is doing in the oven?

[light music] RYAN MARGOLIES: Oh, that looks perfect there.

TAMRA FATEMI-BADI: Yeah, beautiful.

All right.

So typically at the restaurant, this would be served how?

We will serve this with a side of spaghetti and red sauce.

[light music continues] You can really use your own personal favorite dish.

I prefer a fat noodle, like a fettuccine.

Oh.

But our standard is spaghetti.

[light music continues] This looks amazing.

MIA MARGOLIES: And it smells so good.

TAMRA FATEMI-BADI: Oh, do you serve it with two?

RYAN MARGOLIES: Two, yeah.

TAMRA FATEMI-BADI: Wow.

So parsley and then we'll usually pair that with a red sauce and also a red wine.

TAMRA FATEMI-BADI: OK, everyone, why don't we go ahead and take a taste?

How hot is this?

RYAN MARGOLIES: This is going to be very hot.

Very hot, yeah, I know.

I cut mine a little bit smaller here.

RYAN MARGOLIES: Good idea.

All right, are we ready?

All right.

Cheers.

Salud.

TAMRA FATEMI-BADI: Thank you both so much for coming and joining us in the Culinary Connections kitchen.

It's been a pleasure having you here.

MIA MARGOLIES: Thank you so much.

[upbeat music] Welcome to our restaurant.

And as you can see, our walls are filled with many, many pictures giving the message of passion, and heart, and soul.

TAMRA FATEMI-BADI (VOICEOVER): Eddie attributes Luigi's success to the values he and his brother learned and put into practice.

Throughout the restaurant, on the walls, are several of these wonderful life messages.

Obviously, this one touches my heart.

"Work hard.

Our grandparents and parents instilled a respect for hard work."

This one over here, "Honor your elders."

We're so grateful for everything they taught us.

TAMRA FATEMI-BADI (VOICEOVER): These are the values they now pass along to their children as they take over the business.

I think that Louis and Eddie, my father, have done an amazing job creating the reputation that we have.

I just truly want to keep those values and our reputation, going into the future.

TAMRA FATEMI-BADI (VOICEOVER): In Clymer, Mia's cousins-- Louis Donato and Salvatore-- have taken up the mantle from their father.

We survived each step of the hierarchy here, from washing dishes to cleaning bathrooms and hosting management.

And now we have our hands in quite literally every pot here-- cooking, management, marketing, everything.

Every aspect of it, we have some level of involvement.

TAMRA FATEMI-BADI (VOICEOVER): Young Louis took the values he learned and wrote a book entitled The Luigi Way, using the family story as a case study in the traits necessary for success in business and in life.

We've been raised to believe that it's a full revolving circle.

The better we take care of ourselves, the better we're able to take care of our people.

And the better our people are taken care of, the better they're able to take care of the community.

[light music] EDDIE TATE: We'll never forget where we came from.

We'll never forget how this happened.

The blessing is my daughter and my son-in-law, Ryan, they're going to take it into the future.

ANNOUNCER: Culinary Connections was made possible in part by The Rockwell Foundation, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, supporting the arts, science, technology, and education-- and a proud supporter of local programs on WPSU.

[music playing] TAMRA FATEMI-BADI (VOICEOVER): More episodes of Culinary Connections and a full menu of local programs are available at video.wpsu.org or on the PBS app.

And to experience a whole world of international cuisine, check out World Kitchen at wpsu.org/worldkitchen.

[music playing]