{"id":263253,"date":"2026-06-11T15:19:30","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T15:19:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/263253\/"},"modified":"2026-06-11T15:19:30","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T15:19:30","slug":"this-ct-restaurant-serves-modern-italian-with-a-twist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/263253\/","title":{"rendered":"This CT restaurant serves modern Italian with a ‘twist’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chef Joseph Iannaccone has worked at three Michelin-starred restaurants in his young career and now, as owner and executive chef of a Connecticut restaurant, he\u2019s hoping they\u2019ll come here at some point to get a taste.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be nice if they came to Connecticut. I\u2019m going to work on that,\u201d he said. \u201cIt would be amazing. They usually go to bigger cities where there\u2019s a lot around.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iannaccone, 29, is now celebrating the one-year anniversary of his successful Casanova<\/a>, a creatively inspired modern Italian restaurant located in New Haven at 278 Park St.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s quite familiar with the industry, as his family owns some of the best known Connecticut restaurants.<\/a><\/p>\n

His proud father, Gennaro Iannaccone owns the acclaimed Goodfellas in New Haven<\/a> and more recently opened Drea\u2019s Branford,<\/a> named for his wife, Andrea. An aunt owns the popular Bin 100 in Milford<\/a> and an uncle and cousin own Ristorante Luce in Hamden.<\/a><\/p>\n

The younger Iannaccone started as a youngster breading chicken cutlets and baking cookies with his grandmother, then worked with his dad.<\/p>\n

\"ChefChef Joseph Iannaccone in his restaurant, Casanova, now celebrating its first year of success (Courtesy)<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud of him is an understatement,\u201d said Gennaro Iannaccone. \u201cMy son Joe is a wonderfully talented chef whose passion for food has taken him from the classrooms of the Culinary Institute of America<\/a> to some of the finest Michelin-starred restaurants<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The elder Iannaccone said those experiences helped shape his son\u2019s vision and inspire him.<\/p>\n

\u201cJoe\u2019s cuisine is a fresh, modern interpretation of Italian cooking\u2014creative and sophisticated, yet approachable and comforting. Every dish reflects his training, talent, and love for hospitality,\u201d Gennaro Iannaccone said.<\/p>\n

The younger Iannaccone, an East Haven High School<\/a> graduate, has worked at three Michelin starred restaurants, Le Bernardin, in New York City,<\/a> The French Laundry in California and Crown Shy, also in NYC. Then he got \u201ccorporate\u201d experience at Le Zoo in Florida, he said.<\/p>\n

Between jobs he returned to Connecticut and worked with his dad.<\/p>\n

\"CasanovaCasanova Restaurant (Courtesy)<\/p>\n

When he decided it was time to open this first restaurant he looked at the former Tarry Lodge in New Haven, owned by Yale <\/a>and \u201cfell in love with the architecture,\u201d He said it\u2019s \u201carchitecturally amazing\u201d with \u201cstrong bones.\u201d He leases the property from Yale.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m bringing in a little bit of everyone I have worked for to the menu,\u201d he said. \u201cI just like that I can be creative. It\u2019s as if I\u2019m a painter.\u201d<\/p>\n

He offers some Italian classics such as spaghetti and meatballs, chicken parmigiana, Margarita pizza, but most of the menu is, \u201cmodern Italian with a twist.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pasta is made daily in house.<\/p>\n

\"Casanova<\/p>\n

Casanova Restaurant. (Alejandro Villacorta)<\/p>\n

\"Casanova<\/p>\n

Casanova Restaurant. (Alejandro Villacorta)<\/p>\n

\"Casanova<\/p>\n

Casanova Restaurant (Courtesy)<\/p>\n

\"Casanova<\/p>\n

Casanova Restaurant (Courtesy)<\/p>\n

\"Casanova<\/p>\n

Casanova Restaurant (Courtesy)<\/p>\n

\"Chef<\/p>\n

Chef Joseph Iannaccone in his restaurant, Casanova, now celebrating its first year of success (Courtesy)<\/p>\n

\"Chef<\/p>\n

Chef Joseph Iannaccone in his restaurant, Casanova, now celebrating its first year of success (Courtesy)<\/p>\n

\"Owner<\/p>\n

Owner and executive chef Joseph Iannaccone at Casanova and his fiance, Leah Coppola. They will be married in Italy. (Courtesy)<\/p>\n

\"Casanova<\/p>\n

Casanova Restaurant. (Alejandro Villacorta)<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 9<\/p>\n

Casanova Restaurant. (Alejandro Villacorta)<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

Some of the menu \u201ctwists\u201d include Caramelle pasta, little pockets of pasta stuffed with sweet potato filling, topped with sage brown butter and crispy smoked prosciutto.<\/p>\n

Also, there\u2019s also a pork chop Parmigiano with vodka sauce, burrata cheese filling , baby basil\u00a0 (it has a different taste than full grow basil) and crispy prosciutto.<\/p>\n

One online reviewer who had the pork chop wrote, \u201cThat very well may have been one of the best meals of my life!! The food was obviously to die for, but the ambiance and level of hospitality was also beyond elite. Couldn\u2019t recommend this place more \u2013 can\u2019t wait to be back!\u201d<\/p>\n

They also have steak, trout and more. But no salmon, because that\u2019s ordinary so easy to find at other restaurants, he said.<\/p>\n

A big menu hit, he said, are the truffled deviled eggs with fresh truffle in the filling and a little gold leaf on top. They don\u2019t cut the eggs, but rather suck out the yolk and put it back in, he said.
The menu changes seasonally and even the desserts have a twist.<\/p>\n

There is no cannoli, yummy as they are, he said, and as one might expect because again, predictable.<\/p>\n

They have a Basque cheesecake with a creamy texture almost like warm butter with a blueberry compote with frozen whipped cream on top.\u00a0 The Tiramisu is made with house made sponge cake and finished with fresh, grated chocolate.<\/p>\n

They also have interesting pizzas.<\/p>\n

The attire at the restaurant is casual, even shorts are permitted, he said, though the decor is impressive.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want people to come to the restaurant for every occasion,\u201d he\u00a0 said. \u201cWe could be compared to a New York style restaurant.\u201d<\/p>\n

Casanova seats 70 inside and 30 outside in a parklet.<\/p>\n

He said the walls are dark, the tables white, the plates are dark-colored, the floors are white and there are bright orange couches and different color book cases.<\/p>\n

The elder Iannaccone who has owned 14 restaurants in his lifetime, described his son\u2019s restaurant this way: \u201cHis restaurant is intimate and charming, offering a cozy dining experience where every guest feels welcome. During the warmer months, the outdoor dining area provides the perfect setting to relax, enjoy great food, and soak in the atmosphere.\u201d<\/p>\n

A large portrait of Giacomo Casanova<\/a>, an Italian writer, adventurer and ladies man is painted on the wall.<\/p>\n

He and his fianc\u00e9, Leah Coppola, who plan to marry in Italy, decided on the name Casanova and the book theme because they thought it would appeal to the Yale crowd, he said.<\/p>\n

\"OwnerOwner and executive chef Joseph Iannaccone at Casanova and his fiance, Leah Coppola. They will be married in Italy. (Courtesy)<\/p>\n

Instead of calling the drink menu just that, it\u2019s called, \u201cThe Library.\u201d<\/p>\n

He describes the vibe as both comfort and vibrancy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re a while mix of things,\u201d Iannaccone said. \u201cIt\u2019s been very good, very busy.\u201d<\/p>\n

They plan to open more restaurants, but, \u201cI can\u2019t tell you where and when,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chef Joseph Iannaccone has worked at three Michelin-starred restaurants in his young career and now, as owner and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":263254,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[288,2136,102064,102063,102058,102060,4683,3640,1070,50534,102061,25527,4858,102062,102059,75,84,83,60608,17273,9,24,63,1302,5659,92611,2770],"class_list":["post-263253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-manhattan","tag-business","tag-california","tag-caramelle-pasta","tag-crown-shy","tag-culinary-institute-of-america","tag-east-haven-high-school","tag-family","tag-florida","tag-food","tag-graduate","tag-has-worked-at-three-michelin-starred-restaurants","tag-italian","tag-italy","tag-le-bernadin","tag-le-zoo","tag-manhattan","tag-manhattan-headlines","tag-manhattan-news","tag-michelin-starred-restaurants","tag-new-haven","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-restaurant","tag-texture","tag-the-french-laundry","tag-tiramisu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=263253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263253\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/263254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}