Kyle G pays homage to adopted Italian family with sixth restaurant on the Treasure Coast
Kyle Greene is paying homage to his adopted family and bringing Italian food back to Hutchinson Island with his sixth restaurant.
The 37-year-old Treasure Coast chef and restaurateur opened Nonna’s on Aug. 14 on South A1A, just north of the Jensen Beach Causeway and across the street from his first restaurant, Kyle G’s Prime Seafood & Steaks.
“It’s kind of an authentic-inspired menu,” Greene said. “There’s a couple things that you might not find in a super old school Italian restaurant.”
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Italian food inspires Nonna's menu
Greene described the menu at Nonna’s as half traditional, half his own twist.
Authentic dishes include veal saltimbocca, chicken marsala and chicken Milanese. The classic homemade lasagna features pasta sheets that are rolled out and baked fresh every day. The restaurant keeps about 12 servings on hand daily and doesn’t save any overnight.
In addition to lasagna, homemade pastas include ravioli, gnocchi, agnolotti and pappardelle. He doesn’t have the machine for smaller, tubular pasta, so he’s importing that fresh from Italy.
Greene gets to have fun with pizza, which features homemade dough baked fresh. One of his creations is the Balducci’s Spicy White Clam Pie ($18) with chopped white clam sauce, mozzarella, pecorino, ’nduja (spicy salami) spread and fresh parsley.
He also gets creative with the appetizers. Nonna’s Handbags ($16) are sausage and pecorino cheese filled raviolis with pepperonata and Sunday sauce.
“It’s an awesome appetizer,” Greene said. “Is it true authentic? Probably not, but all of the elements of the dish are.”
He hired Gary Skinner, 24, as head chef. Skinner previously worked at Shuckers in Jensen Beach and Beacon in Jupiter, and he started working at Oak & Ember Steakhouse in Port St. Lucie in the fall.
Skinner became lead culinary trainer when Greene opened Oak & Ember Steakhouse in Stuart, which led to him being in charge at Nonna’s. They worked together on the menu.
“He’s just got an insatiable passion for food and cooking,” Greene said. “He’s just a ball of pure culinary energy. It’s rather rare these days.”
Kyle G pays homage to Italian grandmas
Greene always hears stories of people remembering their grandmothers cooking in the kitchen. He didn’t have that because his grandparents lived out of state, and he saw them every few years.
Instead, he became close with his godparents, who were from Italy. They had two daughters slightly younger than he was.
“They were essentially my family growing up as an only child,” Greene said.
Greene, who is Irish and German, learned about Italian traditions from his adopted family. He attended the family birthdays and holidays and got to know their “nonnas.”
They grew up in the restaurant industry, so Greene’s godfather showed him how to make pizza dough — the same way he was taught in Italy at age 12 and he made it in restaurants for 25 years.
“I wanted to do something to pay homage or tribute,” Greene said.
Italian food returns to Hutchinson Island
When he was in high school, Greene worked at Rotties Restaurant — now the location of Kyle G’s Prime Seafood & Steaks.
He remembered the island had an Italian restaurant, and he wanted to bring that back to the area for the first time in a couple decades.
“I just remember it being busy and people loving it,” Greene said. “We don’t really have that out on the island.”
Nonna’s is Greene's third attempt at that location. He opened Hutchinson American Kitchen there in August 2020, but spread himself too thin. He was short-staffed, running four restaurants and raising a newborn, so he closed it. He reopened it as Kyle G’s Kitchen in early 2022, but it wasn’t a financial success. He closed in July 2022.
A handful of restaurant operators looked at the location, but none decided to open there.
Greene went back to the landlord, who liked his idea for a place with great pasta and pizza. He signed a new lease in July. He didn’t have much construction to do, since he already had built it out twice.
“I always thought an Italian restaurant was going to work here,” Greene said. “I’m glad we didn’t before because I don’t think we were fully prepared to do it then, as well as prepared as we are now.”
Nonna’s
Address: 10867 S. Ocean Drive, Jensen Beach
Hours: 3-9 p.m. Sunday-Monday, noon to 9 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday
Phone: 772-807-1404
Laurie K. Blandford is TCPalm's entertainment reporter and columnist dedicated to finding the best things to do on the Treasure Coast. Follow her on Twitter @TCPalmLaurie and Facebook @TCPalmLaurie. Email her at laurie.blandford@tcpalm.com. Sign up for her What To Do in 772 weekly newsletter at profile.tcpalm.com/newsletters/manage.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: New restaurant: Kyle G opens Nonna's Italian eatery in Jensen Beach
