Not long ago, at a brunchtime get-together of members of FLORIDA TODAY’s Facebook group, 321 Flavor: Where Brevard Eats, the subject of future meals arose. “I want to go to Alfredo’s Paradiso in Merritt Island,” one South Brevardian said. “I love the food, the people are wonderful and we learned how to make mozzarella there. Maybe we could get him to teach a group of us how to make mozzarella.”

Such is the regard in which diners hold Alfredo’s Paradiso, and its principals, Alfredo and Linda Giulio, who came to the area in 1987 to co-own a pizzeria.  “A great place to start a business and raise our children,” Alfredo said. Part of it remains a highly successful pizzeria, but for the larger part, it is, in Chef Alfredo Giulio’s words, “(An) Italian ristorante; we feature a variety of Italian-American, regionally authentic and contemporary Italian dishes.”