About Us
Chef Mark and Anne diCicco bring a mixture of Italian cuisine and southern charm to Lucia's Tavola in Brookline.
The new owners take pride in the fact that many customers note a meal at the restaurant is like a visit to Boston's North End.
And the couple carries on a diCicco family tradition of good Italian food — and spirit.
"When the staff isn't here during the day, I tell people to come for the entertainment," Anne said with a smile. "It’s just Mark and I, and sometimes the conversation can get pretty spirited."
Destiny may have played a roll in the couple's purchase of the restaurant. Mark's grandmother’s name was Lucia. (And his aunt, who lived in Hollis and was the first director of Crotched Mountain rehabilitation center, sold her lentil soup recipe to the company that would one day become Progresso.) He spent much of his young life in the family's kitchen, but not always voluntarily.
"We were pulled into the kitchen. Everyone had to take turns. I always wanted to take out the garbage because then I could disappear. But my siblings soon caught on and started doing it, too," he said.
Mark grew up on Massachusetts's North Shore. His 35-year culinary career began at 11 years old when he lied on an application and got his first restaurant job as a dishwasher to secure funding for a motorcycle. He was fired when the truth came out, but he'd caught the restaurant bug. As he got older, he worked his way through the restaurant line. At one point he worked as a chef at La Scala in Rome, where he learned to cook with ingredients that are "fresh, fast and what's on hand. Italian dishes don't have to be in heavy sauces."
"Everyone is into fresh and local ingredients," Anne added. "Italian food has always been that way."
Lucia’s Tavola has a touch of Southern hospitality thanks to Anne, who is a native of Alabama. She has been in and out of the restaurant business most of her adult life, though she works more in the front of the house with the customers, and leaves the cooking to Mark. Her career includes event planning for a country club, wine sales, and stints as a barista and bartender. She met Mark after he moved to Georgia to help a friend open a Greek seafood restaurant.
The couple has worked in restaurants together and also worked as restaurant consultants. They moved up to New Hampshire to give their son the opportunity to spend more time with Mark's family. Mark worked at the Black Orchid in Nashua (he started the lunch service), and then moved to Center Harbor's Coe House restaurant in the summer, and Ragged Mountain ski area in the winter.
The Lucia's Tavola menu features many diCicco family-inspired dishes. The most popular is the Pasta di Tre Sorelle Lottando (three fighting sisters), which is a combination of fresh mushrooms, chicken, sausage, shrimp, green peas, carrots, tomatoes, basil, Romano cheese and your choice of fresh pasta. "My sisters are always fighting and can't agree on anything, so this dish has everything in it," Mark said.
The Cozzo Pasquale (PEI mussels with red onion, tarragon, white wine and extra virgin olive oil) is named after Mark’s grandfather and made with his recipe. The Gamberi alla Abruzzo (sautéed shrimp and capers with wild mushrooms, tomato sauce, and tossed with penne pasta) is made how Mark's grandmother would do it. Everything is made in-house, from the bread, pasta and desserts to the mozzarella.
Also on the menu are the dishes common in an Italian restaurant — marinara, ragu alla Bolognese, carbonara, and Alfredo. But Mark noted: "If I'm going to make a dish like lasagna, it has to be better than anything people expect to get in a restaurant."
"When the staff isn't here during the day, I tell people to come for the entertainment," Anne said with a smile. "It’s just Mark and I, and sometimes the conversation can get pretty spirited."
Destiny may have played a roll in the couple's purchase of the restaurant. Mark's grandmother’s name was Lucia. (And his aunt, who lived in Hollis and was the first director of Crotched Mountain rehabilitation center, sold her lentil soup recipe to the company that would one day become Progresso.) He spent much of his young life in the family's kitchen, but not always voluntarily.
"We were pulled into the kitchen. Everyone had to take turns. I always wanted to take out the garbage because then I could disappear. But my siblings soon caught on and started doing it, too," he said.
Mark grew up on Massachusetts's North Shore. His 35-year culinary career began at 11 years old when he lied on an application and got his first restaurant job as a dishwasher to secure funding for a motorcycle. He was fired when the truth came out, but he'd caught the restaurant bug. As he got older, he worked his way through the restaurant line. At one point he worked as a chef at La Scala in Rome, where he learned to cook with ingredients that are "fresh, fast and what's on hand. Italian dishes don't have to be in heavy sauces."
"Everyone is into fresh and local ingredients," Anne added. "Italian food has always been that way."
Lucia’s Tavola has a touch of Southern hospitality thanks to Anne, who is a native of Alabama. She has been in and out of the restaurant business most of her adult life, though she works more in the front of the house with the customers, and leaves the cooking to Mark. Her career includes event planning for a country club, wine sales, and stints as a barista and bartender. She met Mark after he moved to Georgia to help a friend open a Greek seafood restaurant.
The couple has worked in restaurants together and also worked as restaurant consultants. They moved up to New Hampshire to give their son the opportunity to spend more time with Mark's family. Mark worked at the Black Orchid in Nashua (he started the lunch service), and then moved to Center Harbor's Coe House restaurant in the summer, and Ragged Mountain ski area in the winter.
The Lucia's Tavola menu features many diCicco family-inspired dishes. The most popular is the Pasta di Tre Sorelle Lottando (three fighting sisters), which is a combination of fresh mushrooms, chicken, sausage, shrimp, green peas, carrots, tomatoes, basil, Romano cheese and your choice of fresh pasta. "My sisters are always fighting and can't agree on anything, so this dish has everything in it," Mark said.
The Cozzo Pasquale (PEI mussels with red onion, tarragon, white wine and extra virgin olive oil) is named after Mark’s grandfather and made with his recipe. The Gamberi alla Abruzzo (sautéed shrimp and capers with wild mushrooms, tomato sauce, and tossed with penne pasta) is made how Mark's grandmother would do it. Everything is made in-house, from the bread, pasta and desserts to the mozzarella.
Also on the menu are the dishes common in an Italian restaurant — marinara, ragu alla Bolognese, carbonara, and Alfredo. But Mark noted: "If I'm going to make a dish like lasagna, it has to be better than anything people expect to get in a restaurant."
