PAESANO

Some restaurants simply occupy a neighborhood. Others become part of its story. In San Jose's Little Italy, Paesano Ristorante Italiano is very much part of the story.

At 350 West Julian Street, chef and owner Giuseppe “Pino” Spatola has created a restaurant rooted in Italian and Sicilian cooking and in his affection for his native Sicily. Paesano describes Palermo — joyful, colorful and rich in art and cuisine — as the soul of the restaurant.

From Sicily to San Jose

Pino came to the United States from Sicily as a young man. Before Paesano, he spent 15 years running Siciliano Ristorante in Redwood City. When plans were taking shape for a revived Little Italy in San Jose, Pino was persuaded to bring his experience to the neighborhood and make Paesano its flagship Italian restaurant.

Paesano's grand opening was held in December 2010, becoming the first restaurant in the new Little Italy San Jose business district.

A Building With a Story

The restaurant's address connects Paesano to an even older San Jose story. A 2013 account reported that the building was constructed in 1885 and originally served as a corner grocery for one of San Jose's early Italian neighborhoods.

That makes the setting unusually fitting: an Italian restaurant helping revive Little Italy inside a building that served an Italian community more than a century earlier.

Little Italy, Then and Now

Paesano is more than a stop for pasta before an event at nearby SAP Center. Its story mirrors the larger effort to restore a visible Italian presence to this part of downtown San Jose. As the first restaurant to open in the revived Little Italy business district, Paesano became one of the neighborhood's early anchors.

For Bay Area Vibes, that is what makes Paesano worth telling: Sicily, San Jose history, food and neighborhood identity all meet at the same table.