Most people desire food prepared at a locally owned restaurant where the proprietors had some role in creating what they're hawking. At a barbecue place, you should be able to smell the smoke and picture the manager toiling over the coals in a sweaty, stained wife-beater. At a French restaurant, the host should be so snotty that you want to punch him in the mouth, even though he'll probably surrender before you can. And at an authentic Italian joint (not one named for the infamous Olive Garden crime family), the owner should be from Italy - but also know that you're in for a hell of a meal, just because the ownership so damn passionate about the food. Pellegrino's Italian Kitchen is one of those joints.

Owner Sam Pellegrino is 100 percent Sicilian from the town of Palermo. Although semi-retired, his big personally is always there - whether in the photographs leading up the stairs, Italian dishes passed through generations of Pellegrino's or via his daughter and house manager, Jennifer Pellegrino.

Pellegrino's is one of 10 restaurants participating in Olympia Restaurant Week, which means it will offer three courses for $25, Sunday-Thursday April 7-18.

To reserve your space at Pellegrino's during Olympia Restaurant Week, call 360.709.9020.

Below is Pellegrino's Italian Kitchen's Olympia Restaurant Week menu. The cozy Italian joint in Tumwater offers more than the required three options per course, including a Tour of Italy entree.