Meet Nonna Amalia Lubrano

About Nonna Amalia

My name is Amalia Lubrano and I was born in Monte Di Procida, Naples. I grew up watching my mother cook for my family. As the oldest daughter, my mother encouraged me to learn to cook for my younger siblings.
In 1971, I moved to Brooklyn, NY, to join my fiancé, Antonio, who was already working in a restaurant and pizzeria. We married in 1972 and within a year my husband had bought a pizzeria with his brother in Wayne, NJ. Even though my husband worked in a pizzeria until 11 o’clock in the evening, he enjoyed coming home to relax and eat what I had prepared for the day. One night, I accidentally fell asleep. I woke up in a panic and I hurried to make his dinner. While making meatballs, instead of cracking the eggs into the meat, I threw the eggs in the sink and added the shells to my meatballs. From that day on, I realized I better not cook after dark.

For the next 10 years, while my husband commuted from Brooklyn to Wayne, we were blessed with 3 boys, Domenico, Michael, and Dario. We moved back to Monte Di Procida in 1980. In 1981, Rosamaria, was born. After much consideration we packed up our family and moved back to Brooklyn in 1986. One year later, my husband opened a pizzeria in Toms River, NJ. We worked along side one another while raising our 4 children. My husband was an excellent cook and I learned a lot form him. Years later we added to the Lubrano family restaurants with another in Toms River and one in Wall Township. Today, I proudly watch as my three sons follow in their father’s footsteps each owning his own restaurant. I enjoy working with my sons from time to time, but I love making a mess with my grandchildren at home in Nonna’s kitchen. I am known as Nonna to my five grandchildren and one on the way. I look forward to our growing family of “Little Chefs.”