food
Italy in the Ozarks
By ANGELA FORSYTH
F
ried chicken and spaghetti, anyone? Tontitown – a town in Northwest Arkansas, rich in Italian-American history and known for its delicious Italian food – offers this unique Italian/Southern combination. If you ask Venesian Inn restaurant owner Jeff Bowen, “It’s like chicken and waffles; it just goes together.” It’s not fancy; it’s not gourmet. It’s fried bone-in chicken (or boneless breast if you order it) and a scoop of spaghetti on the side with meat sauce on top. Think of it as Italian Southern fusion. This down-home dish of spaghetti and chicken is a historical icon in its own right, and continues to be the food star of Tontitown today. You can find it every August at the Tontitown Grape Festival and yearround at the Venesian Inn restaurant. It’s just one of the many cultural gifts spurred by the arrival of Italian immigrants to Ar-
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