Pop-up restaurants, temporary eateries that chefs open to test out trendy concepts in a lower-risk environment, are at one end of the dining-out continuum. One could say Mamma Francesca in New Rochelle, owned by the charming and loquacious Nick Di Costanzo, is at the other end. The traditional Italian restaurant, with a bank of rear dining room windows facing New Rochelle Harbor, has been open for more than 30 years.
You’d think that to be in business so long requires adapting to the culinary trends as well as changing tastes of the dining-out public. In a word, no. “I’ve changed very little,” says Di Costanzo. “My cooking and recipes are the same from when I started.”
