Whether it’s called Lasagne al Forno or Lasagne alla Bolognese, it’s an oven-baked dish of a very meaty ragù, pasta sheets and béchamel sauce, followed promptly by calls for more please.
On a warm afternoon last summer, weeks shy of his 100th birthday, Salvatore Zagona Sr. took his usual route through Caruso’s backyard, sidestepping the need to walk through the dining room of his Italian restaurant on North Fourth Avenue.
He cut around to the spacious front porch facing the avenue and took his seat at his usual table “L4,” tucked into the corner where he could see the entire expanse of the patio.
“He would come in and most people didn’t know who he was, but he had a presence,” said his great-niece Andrea “Ande” Motzkin, who has been co-general manager of her great-uncle’s restaurant since 2007.