Growing up in an Italian-American household, Robert Montano, chef-owner of Montano's Restaurant in North Truro (MA), has always known the deep connections between family and food. "Both my grandmothers and my mom were always cooking," said Montano, whose earliest memories center around the kitchen, especially the preparation of made-from-scratch pastas and gravies that required many hands.

"On Sundays, there would be cavatelli all over the kitchen they would make. My dad and I would sit there and overeat, of course. Every Sunday there was lunch, at 2 p.m." It's "the story of so many Italian-Americans," he said, and one that he's shared with the Outer Cape community for 35 years. At the restaurant, he's nourished a family — his staff — and continued the tradition of gathering staff members in the kitchen to churn out homemade pastas daily.