The restaurant was founded twelve years ago on
Main Street in Logan. In a city that did not yet feature larger chains such as
the Olive Garden, it was a prime location for an authentic Italian restaurant.
Over time it has grown from a small eatery to a successful restaurant that
offers traditional Italian cuisine and local music.
La Nonne, which is Italian
for “grandmothers”, was founded by native Italian PierAntonio Micheli. Raised
on a coastal town in Tuscany, Micheli learned to cook traditional Italian food
from his grandmother and mother.
Though he later went to
culinary school, Micheli credits most of his cooking education to his family.
Micheli was raised in the restaurant business.
“I did internships with my family, and they owned their
own restaurant,” Micheli said. “We had it for over fifty years.”
Micheli left Italy at 19 to
pursue a career in America.
“He worked as a head chef
in Los Angeles first, then in Hawaii and then he opened his own restaurant in
Salt Lake City,” said Ciara Connors, general manager of Le Nonne and Micheli‘s
sister-in-law. “My dad told him to come to Logan. He said it was a better
idea.”
When his first restaurant failed in Salt Lake
City, Micheli heeded the advice of his father-in-law and decided to start over
in Logan. The restaurant started in a small location nestled between shops on
Main Street.
“It only had twelve tables
total. It was really small,” Connors said. “But it was always really busy, so
they decided to expand and move the restaurant over here. Now we have fifteen
tables and a big patio in the summer.”
The restaurant is located
in a period-style house in downtown Logan and is a couple blocks from it’s
origins on Main Street. Though the
restaurant has received critical acclaim, the sign out front is small and
advertising for the restaurant is largely word of mouth.
“We have clientele that
come in regularly,” Connors said. “New people come in once in a while, but it
is hard to get the word out.”
The restaurant was
recently noted in the Utah Business Magazine as one of the five best
restaurants in Utah for business dining, according to Connors. Despite this,
Micheli noted that the restaurant is fine dining for everyone to enjoy – not
just the wealthy and successful.
“It’s a boutique restaurant, not a
major upscale restaurant,” Micheli said. “It’s not exclusive to clientele; it’s
exclusive to normal people.”
The restaurant strives to keep its
business family oriented – because that is where it started for Micheli.
“It’s a family thing. He learned
everything from family, and everyone who works here becomes like family,”
Connors said. “It’s not the corporate thing, it is a little bit better.”
For more information on Le
Nonne, visit it’s website at www.lenonne.com.
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