A Little Italy in Reunion

You have to be Italian to even know what Mama's home cooking was like. But, I found it right near Reunion.

Reunion has a hidden secret that I have discovered and can recommend wholeheartedly.

OK, I am an Italian. So, when I was young our Sunday tradition was to always have a gourmet Italian meal hand prepared by my mother.  Now this wasn’t just a meal where she threw some pasta in a bowl and covered it with a store bought meat sauce. No, she went all out.  I remember her sauce taking 2-3 hours to simmer and her hand made meatballs, she would roll each and every one of them into perfectly shaped round balls a bit larger than a golf ball.

She would even flavor her sauce with the fresh basil that she had growing on the window sill. The part that I remember the most was that this wasn’t just a meal, it was more of an event.  Don’t think that you would sit down, gobble down some pasta and be off ten minutes later.  Nope, this meal took time to eat and you would enjoy every serving from the pasta, to the various types of meat, salad, garlic bread right through to the dessert.  This was perfection and a time that solidified the bond in our family. That was a long time ago; I am older now, married and live in another state, but how I remember those meals.

However, all is not lost. I have found one of the finest Italian Restaurants in Colorado and best of all it is just south of the community of Reunion off of Tower Road.   It is called DiCicco’s and is located at 6701 Tower Rd, just south of Pena Blvd on the way to DIA.   There I can enjoy all my favorite Italian dishes, from Spaghetti to Manicotti to Lasagna, and they even have hand rolled meatballs that are absolutely delicious and bread rolls that are baked fresh on the premises each and every day.  Walking into this establishment reminds me so much of those wonderful Sunday meal memories.

Vittorio DiCicco is the proprietor of this fine establishment.  His father began the concept back in 1956 in California and Vittorio brought it to Colorado.  It is an amazing site to see.  The inside seats over 400 people and is contoured in an oval to resemble the Coliseum in Rome, with 3 different levels over looking a center stage.

Vittorio spared no expense when he built this restaurant as you will notice once you enter the building.  The floors are covered in imported Italian marble and the walls ceilings are all hand painted murals.  The bar area depicts Gondola’s floating down the rivers of Venice. The ambience is amazing, with no exterior windows in the building you get a feeling that you are truly in an Italian café.  This is nothing short of spectacular.

With all the new development up in Reunion, it is nice to know that we don’t have to travel to downtown Denver to experience a little bit of Italy.  So whenever I need my fix of Italy and some fine Italian cuisine, it’s off to DiCicco’s I go.  If you have a chance to visit, ask for Vittorio and tell him I sent you.  And, as they say in Italy “Buon Appetito”.