The first thing you need to know about Amanda Serafini is that she is not related to the family that owns the beloved Serafini's, 2642 W. 12th St., which closed during the height of the pandemic four years ago.
On the new Serafini Family website, where you can order sauce and meatballs on Mondays and pick them up on Saturdays, the Frequently Asked Questions section states, "The Serafini Family has no affiliation with the closed Italian restaurant, 'Serafini's'. Our family sold the restaurant in the 1990s. We have no knowledge about the future plans or lack thereof for the restaurant."
But that doesn't mean she doesn't have what Erie wants, which is the sauce and meatballs made the way Amanda's great-grandmother, known as Mama Serafini, made them when she started the restaurant in 1938.
"I had the elders of my family teach me hands on," she said, of her father, Bob Serafini, her uncle Eddy Serafini and others. "We spent many hours and late nights, getting everything just right, and they taught me all the special secrets about how Nonna used to do it.
"She passed before I was born," Amanda said. "I didn't get to experience the wonderful woman she was."
She said with the closure of the restaurant, Erie was left without access to her family's contribution to the Erie dining scene.
"I didn't want the legacy my family started to die out," she said. "I wanted to bring it back in some capacity. Just because of how much it's meant to my family, uncle, dad and my aunts."
She said she has no plans to quit her day job as a realtor or open her own restaurant.
"We're just going to carry the sauce and meatballs for now, and perhaps other things," she said. "This is exploratory right now."
How to get yours
If you want sauce or meatballs, visit the website eatserafinis.com on Monday mornings and try to get in before they're sold out. Amanda makes the food with the help of other family members.
"At this time, The Serafini family is taking a limited amount of orders per week," the site reads. "This will assure we maintain our high standard of quality and freshness. Orders will be accepted on a weekly basis and will begin on Mondays, until we are sold out. Weekly pickup is 2-4 p.m. on the Saturday and Sunday following your order. Please select the product with your desired pickup day."
Contact Jennie Geisler at jgeisler@timesnews.com or at 814-870-1885.
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