Chicken Cacciatora
Ingredients
- 1 broiler chicken, cut up
- 4 Tbsp. cooking oil
- ½ tsp. sweet basil
- 1 green pepper, diced
- ¼ c. ripe olives, chopped
- 1-2 fresh tomatoes, diced
- 1 small onion, diced
- ½ clove garlic, minced
- 1 4-oz. can mushrooms
- 2 c. chicken broth
- 1 c. white wine
Instructions
- Pan fry chicken in oil. Add remaining ingredients. Simmer about 30 minutes, until fork tender.
- Just before serving thicken sauce with flour. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
About Donatelle’s Supper Club
Location:
Mounds View, Minnesota
Status:
Permanently closed
Dates active:
1966-1998
The Irondale Inn began as a roadhouse serving burgers, steaks, and ribs before co-owner Tony Donatelle introduced a Wednesday night Italian Smorgasbord in the 1950s. For $2.25, guests enjoyed an all-you-can-eat feast of Italian appetizers, handmade pastas with various sauces, and desserts, accompanied by accordion music.
When the restaurant was forced to close in 1962 due to highway construction, Tony later revived his vision by opening Donatelle’s Supper Club in Mounds View in 1966. There, he continued the smorgasbord tradition and expanded his menu of authentic, handmade Italian dishes while adding classic supper club fare like steaks, chops, and walleye, cementing his reputation for hearty, no-shortcut cooking inspired by his mother’s recipes.
Irondale Inn’s Italian Smorgasbord
The Irondale Inn was opened by partners Tony Donatelle and Ervin Peterson at a location described in the newspapers of the time as “north of New Brighton”. It was a roadhouse or saloon establishment that served burgers, steaks, and barbecue ribs. Eventually, they added spaghetti to the menu, followed by other Italian classics. The Italian dishes were so popular that in the mid-1950s, Tony started a weekly Italian Smorgasbord on Wednesday nights.
For $2.25, diners could belly up to the buffet that featured an all-you-can-eat three-course Italian feast. For appetizers, there were various choices of salami, ham, cheese, olives, peppers, pickles, and pizza. Then, for a main course, diners chose from spaghetti, cheese-stuffed ravioli, gnocchi, or polenta with chicken, hot sausage, or meatballs covered in a red tomato sauce or a white clam sauce.
Finally, one more trip to the smorgasbord for a dessert of Italian cakes, cookies, or fresh fruit. An accordion player roamed the dining room playing old-world tunes. Tony said they offered everything his mom made for family dinners, exactly the way she made it. No shortcuts.
The Irondale Inn closed in 1962 when a new highway being built in the area claimed the property. Tony got out of the restaurant business for several years. Then, in 1965, a friend offered him a building that would open up countless possibilities.
Donatelle’s Supper Club
A friend of Tony’s operated the Pinewood Inn on Highway 8 in New Brighton. When the friend wanted to get out of the business, he offered Tony the building, provided he could move it off the property. So Tony cut the building in half, carted it to a new property he’d purchased on Highway 10, and opened Donatelle’s Supper Club in 1966.
The community encouraged Tony to bring back the Italian Smorgasbord on Wednesday nights, which he did. But the new restaurant allowed him to expand the menu of Italian classics beyond the buffet. All of the pasta was made by hand on site, under Tony’s watchful eye.
Similar to the buffet, dinners started with a tasting session of Italian sausages, cheeses, hams, olives, and peppers brought to the table. Then a choice of traditional pasta offerings, and finally dessert. All for just $3.50 for adults and $1.70 for kids.
Eventually, the three-course meal turned into a more modern way of dining, with customers choosing whether they wanted an appetizer or dessert, or just a bowl of hearty pasta for dinner. Nonetheless, the Italian favorites remained, and supper club fare such as steaks, prime rib, chops, and walleye rounded out the menu.
Supper Club Vibes
Wonderfully mid-century Italian restaurant mixed with decidedly supper club decor added to the ambiance. There was a large fireplace, a wooden dance floor, ruby red drapes, knotty pine walls, exposed wooden beams, and floral shag carpets. Musicians Ken and Betty Poferi were lured by Tony from the Flame in Duluth to play five nights a week. Betty cranked on the Hammond organ while Ken took up his saxophone, clarinet, or violin to play old standards and New Orleans jazz for diners.
Passing the Baton
As Tony grew older, his son Edward took a larger role in the restaurant. He eventually took over in the early 1980s so Tony could enjoy a few days away from the business each week. Edward took over making all the pasta each day, and he and his wife, Linda, ran the business after Tony died in 1985.
Although it was a beloved family restaurant in the community, Edward decided to sell the business in 1998 due to illness. It reverted to the family in 2001 and was sold again a year later. After changing hands a couple of times since then, Moe’s American Grill has been operating in the building since 2006.
Gallery
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