Amore Trattoria to support citizen journalism with one-night special menu

On March 18, Amore Trattoria Italiana (5080 Alpine Avenue NW, Comstock Park) will host a Rapidian Night Out. In the past, Rapidian Night Outs have featured percentages of all sales going towards support of The Rapidian, but this time a special meal is being prepared, and reservations for the limited seating event are encouraged beforehand. The three course meal is $40 per person and reservations can be made now with an EventBrite ticket. A generous portion of each ticket goes to supporting The Rapidian. 

Chef Jenna Arcidiacono, co-owner of Amore, has always been passionate about giving back to the community.

“I’ve always been interested in supporting local arts, information and all things Grand Rapids. I think The Rapidian is doing good things, getting people to remember that we have businesses growing locally," says Arcidiacono. "This Night Out will continue to help us all grow.”

Arcidiacono grew up locally and has been working in the restaurant industry since she was 14. She’s worked in American, Korean-American, vegetarian and Italian restaurants previous to starting Amore five years ago.

“I married an Italian and we moved to Italy for three years and that’s when I became very passionate about Italian food," she says. "I spent lots of time in the kitchen with my mother-in-law. She taught me the basics and a lot of the recipes we serve here are the ones she taught me. Or my own riffs on them. My husband Maurizio is the youngest of 11 children, so she was cooking all the time.”

Arcidiacono is preparing a special three course meal just for The Rapidian. The meal will be served family style with two choices for each course, both a vegetarian and a meat option so that “the vegetarians get a full meal, too.”

The first course appetizer is a Risotto Fritter filled with fontina cheese and /or mushroom stuffed with Amore’s own homemade sausage.

The second course salad options include a Speck Salad with Amore’s homemade fig balsamic dressing, pistachios, apples, smoked blue cheese and smoked prosciutto for the carnivores, and a vegetarian Chopped Italian Salad including cheese, tomatoes, artichoke, sun-dried tomatoes and olives.

“It's like a Ceasar salad on crack, filled with lots of goodies,” says Arcidiacono.

The third course includes a spinach and roasted pepper pasta  witha four cheese sauce and a Lasagna alla Bolognese with their homemade sausage and beef tenderloin, served with a bechamel and meat sauce.

Each course of this special meal will be paired with local beers.

“I’m a big fan of beer, so I’ll look at the flavor profiles, likely starting light and go darker,” says Arcidiacono. The specific beers will be decided closer to the meal, as she likes to support local breweries and seasonal beers, so her selection on tap changes regularly.

"I am beyond grateful for this generous show of support from Jenna and the staff at Amore," says Holly Bechiri, Rapidian Managing Editor. "We can't keep supporting local voices without the financial support of our local community. We look forward to seeing many of our supporters at this specially-created dinner."

With a cap of 65 seats on the event, those wishing to attend are encouraged to reserve their spot soon to be ensure they're able to attend.