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CORTLANDT, N.Y.-- Two Brothers Trattoria Pizza and Pasta, is, as the name entails, a family restaurant. And yes, they really are brothers. From the sausage to the bread for wedges, everything on their lengthy menu in Montrose is homemade.
The owners that grew up peeling shrimp in their fathers kitchen on an overturned bucket plan to celebrate their 10th anniversary in grand style, by giving away t-shirts and hats, and rolling their menu prices back to 2001 for June 25 and 26. Santino Alo, the brothers' father, will be cooking zeppoles under a tent outside.
The restaurant was purchased 10 years ago by brothers Danniele Danny Alo and Fabio Alo. Initially, the menu was nothing but pizza, pasta with red sauces and salad. Little by little, said Danniele Alo, my menu kept growing and growing. The pair now serves more than 20 different sauces on their entrees, and have upgraded from a six burner stove to a 24 burner stove.
From behind a wall of pizza, Alo greets every customer by name. We cant afford to do it, said Alo about the price rollback, but we had to give something back. The 10-year anniversary will mark the birth of the restaurant, and quite possibly of his second son. After almost losing the restaurant twice, once after the morose economic slack of post-September 11 New York, and once to a vicious kitchen fire, its clear the brothers know whats at stake, and are appreciative for their success.
Two Brothers is a typical after school spot, the place kids stop after soccer practice.
This is where you come after sports, said Kevin McDermott, a sophomore at Hendrick Hudson High School. Lauren Luposello, a junior at SUNY Oneonta said that when she comes home, this is the first place her family goes, Thats where we always go when we get home, she said.
Coming from an Italian family of varied restaurateurs, Danniele Alo recalled seven other members of the family in the business. The original two brothers (their father and uncle) coming from Calabria, its not hard to imagine the fate of the next generation of Alos standing atop overturned buckets learning how to shell shrimp like their fathers.
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