108 S. Tennessee Avenue
Cowan, Tennessee
(931) 962-3380
The Story of Sernicola's
Giovanni and Maria Sernicola left Italy in the Year 1922 to escape the political pressures of their own country under Muselinni's dictatorship.
After clearing customs at Ellis Island, New York, the young couple moved to Akron, Ohio along with thousands of other Italian immigrants. The growing rubber industry provided a good, decent living and the town of Akron was the perfect place to raise a large family. Giovanni and Maria raised seven children in their devout Catholic household with Italian as their first spoken language and thence learning English at the local public school.
After our country went to war in 1939, hundreds of Tennesseans, especially women, moved north to Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, and other midwestern cities to work in the manufacturing industries as so many young men had been shipped overseas. One of the many young women who left Tennessee and moved north was Louella Gipson and two of her sisters. Louella took a job at an aircraft assembly plant in Akron that was an essential supplier to the U.S. Military. One of her sisters introduced her to Frank Sernicola, Maria and Giovanni's younger son.
Frank and Louella were the all-American young couple in love, working hard during the day, dancing and visiting with friends in the evenings, doing household chores on Saturday's, and going to church on Sunday's. The Sernicola family adored Louella's smooth and slow Tennessee accent while Louella learned to understand Italian, which the Sernicola's still spoke predominantly.
Frank and Louella had two daughters while living in Akron - Mary Jane and Rose Elaine. The young family moved to Louella's native Franklin County, Tennessee in 1954 and soon thereafter had another daughter, Cheryl Anne. Frank worked as a truck driver and later as an auto mechanic before he found the career of his life as a technician at Arnold Research Organization (ARO).
Frank thrilled his friends and his Tennessee in-laws with his culinary expertise that the he learned from his mother and father. He was told hundreds of times that he should open a restaurant as soon as he retired from ARO, which he fully intended to do. Unfortunately, right after Frank retired he was diagnosed with Hepititis and spent nearly three months almost bedridden. Soon after he recovered he found that one of his kidney's had been severly damaged by the Hepititis and had to be removed. Given the struggle with his health, Frank could not risk opening a restaurant, but he still considered it a dream of his.
Sadly, in February 2000, Frank died suddenly and unexpectedly of a heart attack at the age of 75. His wife, children and grandchildren were absolutely devastated, but at the same time were astonished by the immense turnout at Frank's funeral. Although he was not a Franklin County native, he was obviously loved by hundreds of people who were equally saddened by his untimely death.
His middle daughter Rose married Steve Pearson who was from a family with a strong Cowan heritage. The Pearson's of Cowan are not only known for their civic interest in Cowan but also for their love and devotion to historic preservation. In the Year 2002, Steve Pearson's family acquired four abandoned historic buildings in downtown Cowan and restored them to new life.
Sernicola's Restaurant was established in the Year 2003 as a unique contribution to Cowan's downtown revival, but also as a tribute to Frank and Louella Sernicola. Sernicola's combines the Italian culinary traditions of the Sernicola family with home-style Tennessee favorites as well.
The building that houses Sernicola's was built in 1901 as a restaurant in a somewhat French architectural style that was very trendy at the time. The inside of the restaurant is modeled after a real restaurant in Naples, Italy that is essentially a courtyard cafe between two historic apartment buildings. Half the fun of eating at Sernicola's is taking in all the decor of the dining room and pretending to be in Italy.
We use many of the original recipes from our family tradition, some of which were modified with the help of our Italian cousins for use in a restaurant setting.