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Community Corner

Celebrating a Milestone

Simple pleasures make lasting family memories.

For the last couple of years, most of our family celebrations have been at home.  Birthdays?  Take-out.  Work promotions?  Take-out. Straight-A report card?  Take out.  It’s not that my family didn’t want to eat at a restaurant, it was just too stressful. 

My 4 year old son was diagnosed with a handful of food allergies when he was a baby.  Eating at a restaurant meant researching allergy-safe menu items, making phone calls to managers and then being worried that specially ordered food was still not safe. On a few occasions, we would bring a cooler filled with safe food to a restaurant, but it was hard for my son to understand why he had to have food from home.  We found that if we brought take-out food home and served it up on our dishes, my son was more than happy to eat his own homemade meal.  There were fewer tears for him and less stress and hassle for me. 

In the past year, my son has outgrown two of his biggest food allergies—milk and peanuts.  We are extremely fortunate and blessed to have that burden lifted from our every day family life.  And for the first time in four years, we were able to celebrate Father’s Day at a restaurant. This was an exciting milestone for my family. 

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My husband loves Italian food and shrimp and I knew he could enjoy both of his favorite foods at Antonucci’s in Mission Viejo.  Located on the corner of Alicia Parkway and Muirlands, Antonucci’s is a quick 10 minute drive from Aliso Viejo. 

It may sound silly, but watching my son hold his own menu (even though he can’t read) and then tell our server that he wanted “pa-sah-getti” with butter filled me with immense joy (and relief.) When a basket of toasted garlic bread was delivered to our table, my son turned to me and gave me a big grin.  I put two slices on his plate and watched as he quickly devoured both pieces.   It didn’t even bother me when my kids started to argue-rather loudly- over whom should have the last piece of garlic bread. 

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And the food at Antonucci’s was amazing.  Both my husband and daughter enjoyed their own wood-fired pizzas. My daughter loved the thin crisp crust and I was impressed with how big the pizza was from the kids menu.  Hooray for leftovers!  My husband ordered the shrimp pesto pizza and was happy to celebrate his day with one of his favorite meals.  I loved my own plate of chicken parmesan and had to fight off roaming forks trying to sneak bites from my plate. 

My daughter describes Antonucci’s as, “…kind of fancy-schmancy but also great for families like ours.”  Thankfully my daughter’s assessment is spot-on.  Even though we don’t have to worry about food allergies anymore, we still have an active, “ants in his pants,” messy 4 year old on our hands.  With butter dripping down his face and crumbs all over his shirt, my son exclaimed, “This is the best dinner!”  For my family, Father’s Day dinner at Antonucci’s will always hold a special place in our hearts. 

You can check out Antonucci’s menu online. Be prepared to get hungry while reading their menu.  Have a great weekend!

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