One restaurant in downtown Park Rapids is doing its best to make its Italian cuisine as authentic as possible. In 2008, Denese Jokela, a co-owner of Necce’s Ristorante and its head chef, took a trip to Italy and was so inspired by the restaurants and hospitality while she was there that she decided she wanted to bring that back to her home in Minnesota.

“I was just so impressed with the spirit of hospitality, it was so generous,” said Jokela. “I just found that everywhere in Italy, they just can’t wait to share food and break bread and sip wine and share it all with their friends. And you know, the table is yours for the night. And I just loved it. … And that showed me exactly what I wanted to do.”