La Ginestra
Ristorante Italiano & Pizzeria
Holmdel, New Jersey

It all began in 1972 with one man and a dream.

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On the outskirts of the city of Napoli, a small town called Monte di Procida (where our family originates from) lays nestled along Southern Italy's Western coast across from the islands of Ischia, Capri and Procida. Every morning the sun's rays greet the crystal blue Tyrrhenian Seacreating what seems like a bed of sparkling blue diamonds. Along the coast, the beaches are surrounded by green, lush dramatic cliffs blanketed with waves of a fragrant, radiant bright-yellow flower called La Ginestra.

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In Italy, the use of soprannomi, which in Italian means "above the name," but actually refers to dialect
nicknames, is a common and prominent practice. Since very large, extended Italian families all were apt to
dwell in close proximity to one another, all having the same last name, nicknames were traditionally used to distinguish one branch of a family from another and/or one individual from another - as many
first-born children are named after their paternal grandparents first. "Ginestra" became a permanent "soprannome," or nickname, in our to identify our immediate family because the vibrant sun-yellow ginestra flower once encircled our family's farmland and vineyards. Thus, no other name seemed better suited than La Ginestra for our family's Ristorante Italiano & Pizzeria.

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Chef Raffaele Di Meo has worked in the food industry since he immigrated to America in 1972.
He began his career in a small pizzeria in Sheepshead Bay, New York and years later took over
a Restaurant and Pizzeria in Colts Neck, New Jersey. Upon selling this restaurant, he decided to
open a new Restaurant with his family's sopprannome - La Ginestra Ristorante Italiano & Pizzeria.

(2013) Written by: AnnaRita Di Meo-Dragonetti , daughter.