the oldest Italian-American
restaurant in the country.
The Rubino family
is about to celebrate
their 120th year
of staying in business.
When you think about
Italian-American food
in this country,
they are the epicenter of that.
Today, I'm gonna cook with
Nana Elaine and Elaine's sons,
Jimmy and Eddie.
-So, Marcus, we're gonna
make our veal Parmesan.
-Yeah. And what type of veal
are we talking about here?
-This is milk-fed veal.
This is the top grade of veal.
-Who do you buy it from?
Must've been --
I mean, it's all about
relationships.
You guys have
been buying from --
-We have Esposito's Meats
at the Italian Market.
-Yeah.
-They've been doin' it
God knows how long.
-Yeah.
And the seasoning is important,
right?
Otherwise, it's just a bunch
of bread crumbs.
-Yes, yes, it is.
First, we flour it.
-Mm-hmm.
-Both sides.
Then we're gonna dip it in egg,
put it in bread crumb,
cover it real nice.
-Nice.
-We want to put our gravy
back there.
Pan-fry some of these bad boys
in some olive oil.
-It's so interesting --
a dish like this,
like, the bread crumbs
is so important
because, if you burn them,
it doesn't taste good.
-Oh, God. There's --
Even though it's hot
and typically when oil's hot the
food itself you're cooking in it
doesn't absorb the oil,
it's still --
there's still flavor
going into that bread crumb.
-Yes.
-Although, we like to think,
even if we didn't season it,
our gravy is so good, you know,
it still would be good.
-When I think about gravy,
right,
I think about a creamy sauce
that my grandmother made
and I put it on everything --
on meatballs,
on roasted chicken.
When you talk about gravy
for an Italian-American
in South Philly,
it's red sauce.
Beautiful.
-A nice ladle of gravy.
-Yes.
This is it.
-And that's it.
That's our veal Parm.
-So now we're gonna make
the lasagna, right?
-Yeah.
So, what we're gonna do first
is season the ricotta.
-Nice.
-Eddie's yummin' over there.
-It's good.
-We're gonna eat
soon enough, bro.
-Yeah. Yeah.
-I love ricot.
-Mix this really well.
Okay. Okay.
So, we're gonna put a layer
of gravy on the bottom.
Okay. And then we have
our lasagna noodles, okay?
Now, what we're going to do is,
we're gonna go seven this way,
four this way.
You meet 'em in the middle.
-Lasagna is from Naples.
All of these things
that we think about
as Italian-American food
get much larger
than they'll ever be in Italy.
It was part of that "Italian
meeting American" culture.
So the lasagna got richer,
with more mozz, more ricotta.
It was a way to show
that our culture
is both big and rich
and it matters.
And America loved it.
-We cook these noodles
in salted water.
-It's important that you don't
make the -- them too soft, also.
-Mm-hmm. Al dente.
-Yeah.
-Al dent.
-Everything's al dente.
And that's -- It's funny, 'cause
when Ralph first started...
Ralph cooks most of
our pasta dishes.
-Yeah.
-That was one of the main
things we said --
everything has
to be al dente.
-Ralph Allen.
That's Ralph Allen.
-That's the Ralph.
Finally, I find Ralph.
-[ Laughs ]
-Finally!
My man.
-The word "loyalty"?
That's it, right there.
Yeah, yeah.
-That's really, really good.
-I've been here 22 years.
-22 years. That's awesome.
-22.
-Very honorable person.
-No matter what's going on,
I haven't missed a day of work.
-He has not missed a day.
-My man.
-This is no lie. No lie.
-No. Wow.
And -- And how long
have you been here?
-28 years.
-28?
-I was helping out at the door,
maître d'ing.
-Yeah.
-And they asked me if I wanted
to come in the kitchen.
And it's been -- I've been
in the back ever since.
-That's amazing.
It gave me goose bumps,
because --
Talk about a family affair,
but it's also the extended
la famiglia.
The staff at Ralph's
has been there for 20, 30 years.
They came in as kids,
and they've never worked
anywhere else.
There's something really,
really beautiful about that.
And I think that says so much
about the Rubinos,
how they take care
of one another.
What's the best thing
about Italian culture?
-They're traditional.
That's what I love about it.
They don't change stuff.
That's what I love
about Ralph's,
and that's why I stay.
-The funny thing is, in this --
in our family, if you want
to alter just one little thing,
it's like going
through Congress.
-Yeah.
-It could take up to three
or four years for it to pass.
-I'll wait.
Ryan, come over here
for a second.
Uh, we're debating something
as we speak.
-Listen, it's a bad idea.
Don't do it.
Don't d-- Whatever it is,
don't do it.
What's up, man? How are you?
-It's good to meet you.
-Good, good, good.
-All right.
-How does it feel to think about
your great-great-grandfather
started something
almost 120 years ago?
-When they came over, they
worked before we opened up
the restaurant,
and they saved money.
-Yeah, yeah.
-So the big step
was coming here.
And then, the even bigger step
was opening up
their own restaurant.
-How long was it
between coming here
and working and then
opening the restaurant?
-Seven years, right?
'93 to 1899?
-1893 to 2000.
Seven years.
-To 1900.
-1900.
-When you think about Ralph's
15, 20 years from now,
how do you envision
to take into the future?
-It's always about,
how do we continue this
and grow it with respect
to where we've come from?
-That's great.
-And again, you don't want
to pull too far in.
You just want to get it enough
where it makes the curve there.
Bring these over.
-You got to be Michelangelo.
-Mm-hmm.
-So, it really is --
It's a work of art when you th--
It's like a puzzle.
A luzzle.
A lasagna puzzle.
-[ Laughs ]
I can't wait.
I want to eat.
