Ingredients for success - New Dixon Family Resaurant

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Article Last Updated: 1/06/2006 06:41 AM

Ingredients for success
Restaurant touts family recipes
By Amanda Janis/Business Writer
TheReporter.Com

Time spent at the table together is time that's not lost, so signifies the proverb 'a tavola non si invecchia.'

In Dixon, a new, family-owned restaurant gives area residents the chance to test the veracity of the Italian proverb for themselves, along with a wide variety of Italian food.

The arrival of Gabriella's has Dixon's Downtown Business Association 'really excited,' according to its executive director, Angela Meisenheimer. While diners need not dress up, its owners say, Meisenheimer characterized the restaurant as upscale, and a welcome addition to downtown.

Gabriella's was recently opened by Will and Dorothy Forrest, who wound up in Dixon after some of their family moved into the area.

'We heard that Dixon was a great little town,' Dorothy said, and explained that they'd also heard good things about the area's schools.

The restaurant is named after their 10-year-old daughter, and is open for dinner Tuesday through Saturday, serving only freshly made fare.

Gabriella's menu - which is comprised of Will's family recipes and executed by Dorothy - features antipasti, pizza, pasta and main courses, from calamari and bruschetta to eggplant parmigiana and chicken stuffed with prosciutto and mozzarella. Entrees, which come with a cup of soup and a salad, average $14-$16.

The Forrests previously owned and operated a Greek restaurant in San Rafael, and Will's family - which came to the U.S. from Sicily in the early 1900s - has several generations of experience in related, Bay Area business. A family produce firm was founded in 1920 in San Francisco, and Will's uncle, Joe Carcione, was the original "Green Grocer," who did regular segments throughout the 1970s and '80s for ABC-7 TV and KCBS Radio.

Gabriella's is located at 158 N. First St.; for reservations or more information, call 693-0322.

Amanda Janis can be reached at business@thereporter.com.