What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/896710
42 WHAT'S UP! NOVEMBER 5-11, 2017 feature story A er working in the restaurant industry for years, Alban Vrellaku decided to set out on his own and open up his own place. "I have a friend who owns a restaurant," Alban an Albanian from Kosovo, said. "I started working for him and day by day I started to love what I was doing. Why not open my own business? It was a good idea to stay in the restaurant business. People are loving my food." Following time living in New York City and several other places around the country, Alban decided Northwest Arkansas was a good place to begin a new chapter in his life. "I came here because of family," he said. "I wanted to raise my family in a nice, quite area and take care of them. I thought this was a good place to do business and raise my kids." Now, his Springdale restaurant, Fratelli's Italian Grill, has become a local favorite. Specializing in dishes from the Calabria region of southern Italy and Sicily, Alban has found his place in the competitive restaurant world of Northwest Arkansas. Around a century ago, Alban explained, a large number of Albanians migrated to Calabria, the tip of Italy's boot, and to Sicily where they infl uenced the local cuisine. Alban draws inspiration from those dishes. " e food they make there is food like mama makes," he said. "Everything from fresh vegetables. Nothing looks like a recipe that you would fi nd being made by a guy in culinary school. If you compare it with something that you make at home, your not going to eat the food that the culinary school guy did, your going to like the homemade better. It's more like you make at home or in a small restaurant." Alban said that he's not afraid to experiment with new ways to create his homemade dishes. Made with lots of love Springdale Italian restaurant specializing in fl avors of southern Italy BY DAVE WOODS DWOODS@NWADG.COM "I came here because of family. I wanted to raise my family in a nice, quite area and take care of them. I thought this was a good place to do business and raise my kids." Continued on page 43