A chef's touch: Pasta Al Forno opens in Ames with Italian recipes passed down through generations

Editor's note: This story was updated to correctly describe the location of Albania.

Pasta Al Forno's authentic, made-from-scratch Italian dishes are an ode to family recipes developed over 75 years in the restaurant business.

Owned by chef John Kelmendi, his brother and head chef Visar Kelmendi, as well as their brother-in-law, chef Aron Dreshaj, the establishment recently opened at 2601 E. 13th St. in Ames, adjacent to the Quality Inn and Suites.

The family immigrated to the U.S. in 1985 from Albania, where the Kelmendi family owned a restaurant near Italy, which they operated for several generations.

“Our family had restaurants always,” John Kelmendi said, as he sat down for an interview with the Ames Tribune. “We grew up in the restaurant business with our parents and grandparents.”

He practically has marinara sauce in his blood, he said, thanks to a 75-year history of family-owned restaurants. The local businessmen stay true to their heritage, delicately crafting each meal.

“We use the same recipes. We never have changed them. The tomato sauce, fresh marinara sauce, pretty much everything,” Kelmendi said. “Each plate, each dish is started from scratch.”

Even though the dishes are authentic, it doesn’t take long for customers to get their meals. The restaurant prides itself on quick, effective cooking.

“It’s amazing how fast the food comes out even though it’s made from scratch,” said Morgan Schlichting, Pasta Al Forno’s front-of-house manager.

Pasta Al Forno is family’s second Iowa restaurant

Kelmendi’s family first settled in New York, then lived in Texas for several years before coming to Iowa.

They’ve owned Pasta Bella in Mason City since 2014, a business that grew from a tiny space to a large, newly constructed building.

“We’ve been doing great in Mason City and have very great supporters there,” he said. “We decided to open a second restaurant in Ames because it’s a college town and there’s a wonderful population here.”

Pasta Al Forno, which translates from Italian to baked pasta, offers a large selection of dishes from northern Italy, though the menu is rounded out with selections from all over the country.

“We have a great selection of pastas. The most popular dish is the lasagna,” Kelmendi said. “It’s made with ricotta, mozzarella and our homemade meat sauce — a good, traditional recipe with secret ingredients in the sauce.”

The establishment prides itself on drawing inspiration from the old country.

“It’s some of the most authentic Italian cuisine you can get,” Schlichting said. “And there’s not a lot of Italian restaurants in Ames.”

Chicken dishes include chicken alfredo, piccata, marsala and parmigiana. The cooks add a few personal tweaks to some of the most common dishes, staying true to family recipes.

“One thing I’ve noticed people ordering that’s a little different is chicken piccata,” Schlichting said. “With that one, we have these little dried flower buds on there called capers. That brings kind of a salty, tangy mix to it, so it’s not really heavy.”

The dish is complimented by a white wine and lemon sauce, Kelmendi said.

“The chicken piccata is my mother’s favorite,” Schlichting said. “She can’t stop talking about it.”

Steaks are hand-cut at Pasta Al Forno

The Kelmendis’ years in Texas curated an appreciation for steaks.

The delicacy is hand-cut for each dish in the Ames kitchen.

“It’s a steakhouse, old tradition to cut our own steaks,” Kelmendi said.

A customer favorite is ribeye ala griglia, which is grilled steak seasoned with garlic, basil, sauteed mushrooms and olive oil over spaghetti, Kelmendi said.

The menu also includes ribeye marsala, served with a mushroom and marsala wine sauce over pasta. The New York strip is sauteed with shallots, garlic and basil in a burgundy wine sauce, served with roasted potatoes and mixed vegetables.

The Saturday night special is a 14-ounce New York strip served with jumbo shrimp and a creamy sherry wine sauce composed of shallots, garlic, basil and portabella mushrooms over linguini.

“My grandparents came in the other day, and my grandpa said he usually can’t get a good steak anywhere, and he loved it,” Schlichting said.

Seafood menu includes salmon, shrimp, red snapper

Pasta Al Forno has plenty of seafood options as well, adding flavor to their various pasta offerings.

“Some of our most popular dishes are shrimp alfredo, shrimp scampi, shrimp fra diavolo," Kelmendi said.

The fra diavolo is a perfect choice for a little bit of spice, Schlichting said.

For the fra diavolo, the shrimp are sauteed in garlic, basil and sherry, then paired with a fresh, spicy marinara sauce and served over linguini.

“We also have great mahi mahi, tilapia, salmon — salmon piccata, salmon Newburg,” Kelmendi said. “We also have red snapper, which is rare to find in Iowa. It’s prepared with mushrooms, fresh tomatoes, onions, garlic and basil in a sherry wine sauce.”

Homemade rolls are baked fresh daily

The owners envision their establishment becoming a place where residents can unwind and enjoy classically satisfying meals. Pasta Al Forno serves beer and wine while they plan to expand bar offerings in the future.

“The kind of atmosphere we’d like to have is a place where you can sit down and have a nice glass of wine and some authentic Italian food with a little Sinatra or smooth jazz playing in the background,” Schlichting said.

On the other hand, the restaurant also offers meals for patrons with limited time. Lunches start at $8.95 and include soup or salad and homemade rolls.

“We make our homemade rolls every morning," Kelmendi said. "They’re the same ones we’ve always made — we haven’t changed the recipe, and our customers love them."

The chef shares his menu favorites

A chef for 22 years, John Kelmendi’s personal favorites from each section on the menu are the seafood combo, the ribeye, shrimp scampi, chicken marsala and chicken cacciatore.

For baked pasta, there’s a selection of lasagna, stuffed shells, beef or cheese ravioli, ziti and tortellini, which are all baked in homemade tomato sauce with some combination of ricotta, Parmesan or mozzarella cheese.

There are specials offered each day for lunch and dinner. A gluten-free menu is also available.

Catering and take-out are available

Orders can be placed for take-out by calling the restaurant at 515-337-1422.

Pasta Al Forno also offers catering for parties of up to 30 people. Whether it’s lasagna, fettucini alfredo or another menu item, each tray feeds 10 people, Kelmendi said.

The restaurant is open Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. They are closed on Mondays.

“We believe in our skills and want our customers to be happy so they will come back again," Kelmendi said. "Chef Aron will not leave you disappointed.”

Ronna Faaborg covers business, education and the arts for the Ames Tribune. Reach her at rlawless@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Newly opened Pasta Al Forno offers authentic Italian dishes in Ames