Alibi Wood Fire Pizza & Artisan Bakery

Address: 404 S 4th Street, Laramie, WY 82070

Country Represented: Italy

Specials:

Italian Antipasti - Cured Italian meats/cheese, grilled artichokes, pickled shallots, olives
Prosciutto Wrapped Whipped Ricotta
Roasted Cherry Tomatoes, Buffalo Mozzarella with grilled Ciabatta

Italian Chop Salad - Citrus Fennel Radicchio Salad w/ Blood Orange Vinaigrette

Italian Sandwiches featuring Moretedella, Prosciutto, Buffalo Mozzarella

Wild Boar Meatballs with pasta
Bolognese - Italian meaty sauce covering parpadella noodles
Puttanesca - tomato-rich broth full of capers and olives with a crunchy anchovy panko

Affogato, Tiramisu, Pizzettes, Lemon Delizia - lemon sponge cake, sweet pastry cream

Mary Henning

Retired librarian with a second home in Abruzzo

I found Claudia’s Home Restaurant almost by accident while exploring Tufillo, a medieval hilltop town in the Province of Chieti, in the Abruzzo region of Italy. It was rumored that a new restaurant was coming soon to Tufillo, so a friend and I went in search of the restaurant.

Tufillo is full of lovely buildings, so we started exploring. Soon we came to an attractive house overlooking a wonderful view across the valley and over the hills. As we stood admiring the view and the house, a woman appeared from the house and asked if she could help us, kindly switching to English for our benefit.

This turned out to be Claudia herself! She explained that remodeling for the restaurant was not quite finished, but she showed us the cantina with its old-fashioned kitchen and urged us to return after Easter next year.

As soon as possible, my friends and I returned for dinner at Claudia’s restaurant.

We enjoyed the hospitality of our hosts and the ambiance of the renovated cantina almost as much as we enjoyed the food!

The meal was quite simple: fresh bread with olive oil; a generous antipasto platter with olives, cheeses, prosciutto,and more; fresh pasta in a homemade tomato sauce; delicious chicken roasted with potatoes, followed by a yummy layered torta served with coffee. All made in-house with the deliciously fresh ingredients that characterize Italian food for me.

Menu: Antipasto, Pasta fatta in casa al pomodoro, Pollo arrosto con contorno di patate, Dolce, Caffe’

Abigail Kilbarger

UW Student, Psychology

When I think of the foods associated with my family, it's hard to choose just one. On Christmas Eve, during the Feast of the Seven Fishes, I remember running around the house, smelling the fish, and sneaking bites of crab dip before the party started, hoping my mom wouldn’t catch me. I’d also hoard all the pizzelles so my siblings couldn’t eat them all before I had a chance.

As Easter approaches, I can’t help but think of Palm Sunday, when we’d gather to make gnocchi for dinner. Being away from home, even though it’s not far, makes it hard to miss out on these cherished family traditions. When it was time to make gnocchi, my favorite part as a child was shaping it into fun forms while everyone else rolled it. And at dinner, I’d always ask, "Who got Mickey Mouse? Did anyone find the heart yet?"

My mom's homemade sauce and meatballs are a staple in our house. The aroma of the sauce simmering for hours before dinner seeping into each room, all of us kids sneaking meatballs from the pot, are memories I’ll always treasure. I often crave my mother’s sauce while at school—its rich garlic flavor, savory meatballs, and underlying pork flavors. Homemade sauce is a tradition throughout my entire family; each aunt and uncle makes their sauce a little differently. Still, they all share the same base my grandmother taught them, and I’ll always use the same base my mother taught me.

Dianne Thompson

Global Engagement Advisor at UW, Student: Doctorate of Higher Education Administration

My grandfather's family was from Scanno, Italy, a small village 2 hours east of Rome. It remains quaint-nearly frozen in time and only accessible by bus or car, nestled upon a mountain in the heart of the Abruzzo region. My grandfather was born in Wyoming after his mother and sister arrived from Italy to join his father and settle into American life. His story is similar to other European immigrants-they changed their name and ditched their native language upon arrival. I was raised in a small town that many Italian immigrant families called home. As an only child, I was raised by a village of aunts, uncles, and cousins on the Italian side of my family. Growing up, I was all American, but my upbringing was heavily laden with Italian attitudes, stories, and FOOD. Some of my best food memories include eating pizzelles, cazzellitti (what you might call gnocchi) and spaghetti and meatballs. Food creates memories because our noses reminisce so well. For me, when I smell my mom’s meatballs cooking (formerly my grandfather’s meatballs, and soon to be my children’s meatballs) I feel warm and at home. Meatballs are versatile and you can find them across cultures. But when I make them with homemade tomato sauce and toss them with spaghetti-it is like no other. So, even though I am an all-American girl, when I am cooking the Scanno meatballs, I feel wholly Italian.