Some of Jenna Jarman’s fondest memories of her grandmother were watching her at work in the kitchen.
Originally from Naples, Italy, her grandmother Marie (née Cinalli) Gambardello’s home was always filled with day-long red sauces and handmade pasta. Especially on Sundays, when she would expand the menu to offer a little bit of everything, such as her special clam sauce.
While Gambardello passed away in 2011, her recipes lived on, just like the photograph Jarman keeps in her wallet.
“She stayed in the kitchen, breakfast, lunch and dinner,” Jarman said.
Instead of keeping them for herself and her family, she is now replicating her recipes for Pensacola with her new Italian food pop-up, Cinalli’s.
Jarman will be operating out of Pensacola’s new Central Station Commissary, offering her homemade, painstakingly labor-intensive meals for takeout to families to enjoy at their own dinner table.
The to-go-style restaurant was a long time coming, as she started working in her grandmother’s kitchen as early as 5, but began retaining some of the skills her grandmother taught around age 10, forming pasta in her hands the old-fashioned way. Even though she has now mastered them, she feels they will never quite compare to Gambardello’s. Even so, her mother gave her the push she needed to open the restaurant in Gambardello’s name and honor.
To start, Jarman will open from business at the commissary at 180 E. Burgess Road, Suite D, from noon to 6 p.m. on Fridays, but will expand to open during that window more days throughout the week once she builds up her clientele.
Jarman’s first day of business was March 20, so she’s only just getting started. She hopes to eventually open a food truck, but the commissary was the perfect place to get her start.
Jarman began collecting Gambardello’s recipes over a decade ago with hopes of creating a cookbook for her family. However, her family believes opening Cinalli’s was the better option because it’s doing what Gambardello loved most: feeding more people.
The menu will be smaller to start, including crowd-pleasers such as her soup of the day, homemade meatball subs, lasagna pans, honey crostini and cheese ravioli. However, her menu will grow with time, including special dishes such as stuffed manicotti and broccoli rabe.
While food will be available for pickup on the spot, Jarman asks that customers call ahead for larger orders at 850-288-5070 so she has enough time to prepare them. She can even make custom orders, since her recipe archive is extensive. She will also be offering her homemade red sauce by the jar to enjoy with dishes at home.
She feels that offering handmade pasta as an option is an asset to the Pensacola area, and she’s excited to honor her grandmother in the process and share her love language of making nourishing meals for others.
“That’s the reason I do it, is for her,” Jarman said.
For real-time updates and information, follow Cinalli’s on social media.
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Dining and Cooking