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Contact: Cynthia Johnson
Public Relations Counsel
[email protected]
414-708-6544
News Release
SALA Modern Sicilian Dining Celebrates15th Anniversary October 2, 2016
Siblings Tony Balistreri and Teresa Balistreri-Warsh will thank customers with food &
beverage specials, and gifts from 1p.m. to 5p.m. on Sunday, October 2, 2016.
MILWAUKEE – August 30, 2016 – Customers have been savoring delightful dining
experiences at SALA Modern Sicilian Dining, located at 2613 E. Hampshire, since its
inception. Combining their restaurant experience and entrepreneurial spirit, co-owners
Balistreri and Balistreri-Warsh opened SALA in 2001.
Head chef Balistreri said: “For me, it was always the love of food and the ability to
present customers with consistent quality. I enjoy creating healthy portions that leave
people with a sense of satisfaction that conjures memories of dinners from childhood.”
Business manager Balistreri-Warsh, added: “Being independently owned enables us
to provide a unique, comfortable environment reminiscent of an old Italian restaurant one
might find in New York City right here in our own neighborhood. Red sauces hail from great
grandmother ‘Nanny’s’ recipes. We pay attention to our customers, so we can constantly
produce classic Sicilian dishes to surprise and delight them.”
On October 2nd, the siblings are excited to celebrate 15 years of business with
current and new customers, who, for $15, will receive drink tickets, complementary
appetizers, music and raffle items. Throughout the following week, many special $15 menu
items will be featured.
Here’s what some of SALA’s customers have to say:
Well-known talent John McGivern said: “My first experience at SALA was in the
middle of the week on a quiet, snowy, winter evening. My partner and I realized very
quickly that we were both foolish not to have found this place sooner. It was magical…the
dining room, the service, especially the food were all so memorable that we couldn’t wait
to get back.
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“When I was producing ‘Shear Madness’ I brought the cast, crew and the
Owner/Director, who was from New York City, to celebrate our upcoming opening in
Milwaukee. Everyone loved everything about the evening.
“Two years later I received a note from that same director, inviting me to the
opening the ‘Shear Madness’ in NYC. He wrote his only regret was that he was not sure how
he could ‘duplicate the perfection’ of the evening we spent at SALA, one of his favorite
restaurants in the country.”
“I think that says it all. SALA Modern Sicilian Dining is unlike anywhere, it is in the
neighborhood where I grew up, in this city that I have always, no matter where I lived,
called home.”
--John McGivern, August 19, 2016
“Sandra and I are regulars at SALA because it is a unique, genuine ‘Sicilian’ family
restaurant”, said neighborhood resident Bruce Stark.
“Teresa is a chic Sicilian woman who meets, greets, and seats their guests from all
over, while in the background you can hear family and staff cutting up long loaves of crisp
Sicilian bread and tossing hand-made pizzas in the kitchen. Once seated in the friendly
confines of the elegant main dining room, you find yourself surrounded by striking original
paintings…many of which were created by family members.
“The service at SALA is friendly, knowledgeable, and open to ideas. In short, SALA
Modern Italian Dining is a completely genuine, East Side Sicilian restaurant. Mangia Bene!”
-- Sandra and Bruce Stark, August 23, 2016
“SALA has the best happy hour in town”, said Dylan Trapp, a UWM student from
Milwaukee’s East Side. “You get great drinks, great food and interesting company”
--Dylan Trapp, August 23, 2016
For the Media:
For more information on details about SALA’S 15th Anniversary event October 2nd,
or a media sneak preview, please contact Cynthia Johnson, [email protected];
414-708-6544.
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Background on SALA Modern Sicilian Dining:
If you’ve ever been to Italy, you’ve learned the stereotypical image of people
talking exuberantly with their hands is based in truth. At SALA, our chef’s hands speak the
language of the love of food. Our great-grandmother, whose portrait hangs on the dining
room wall, notably said, “There are only two things in life: food and respect.” She lived to
102 years of age, cooking every day of her adult life, starting by standing on a stool beside
her mother until her great-great-grandchildren were learning on a stool beside her.
In the tradition of her legacy, we opened this small neighborhood restaurant with
the help of family and friends in 2001. The commitment to providing outstanding, fresh food
through an independently owned, family oriented, local business lives on at SALA, with a
focus on fresh, local produce, Dad farms a large summer garden on his Holy Hill land, and
we harvest basil, oregano, rosemary and thyme from our greenhouse on Hampshire Street.
We use many locally sourced ingredients in our dishes to keep the menu as fresh as
possible.
Whether you’re a local looking for a place to eat once a week or for a special
evening out or you’re in town for a few days looking to experience a true Milwaukee gem,
you’re sure to enjoy our innovative culinary delight. Enjoy family recipes passed down
through the generations of the Gentile, D’Amico, and Balistreri families, as well as inspired
modern dishes created by chef Tony Balistreri and his team.
Rooted in the Sicilian traditions we grew up with, we are here to share them with
you, adding a little of that love to each dish. We invite you to come to our house for dinner
tonight and to join us
To celebrate 15 years of being able do what we love we invite you to our
Anniversary celebration Sunday, October 2, 2016 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. We will have many
items available for $15, which will be accompanied by complimentary appetizers, drink
specials and raffle items. The celebration will continue throughout the week with many
special menu items offered at $15.
Check us out at SALA Modern Sicilian Dining, 2613 E. Hampshire, Milwaukee,
Wisconsin, 53211. 414-964-2611. www.SalaDining.com.