Word is, if you're homesick for authentic Italian food then go to Torinos' @ Home. "We have slow food made by the whole family," said Daniela Bouneou, who with her husband Maxime Bouneou, opened the new eatery six months ago. But people around town came to know her style and taste of cooking years before that.

"I used to be the manager at the Chocolate Maven for five years," Daniela Bouneou said. "While I was there, I started catering trays of lasagna and a few other items. People kept saying they wanted me to open my own restaurant." Her husband was the chef at La Posada. With their backgrounds steeped in cooking, opening their own place made perfect sense. Even their 12-year-old daughter makes pasta and crepes. "She's learning the way my mother and grandmother made pasta in Torino."

According to customer Victor Johnson, the pasta is perfect. "Most pasta in town is tough. Theirs is just right," he said. "Their food is always consistently good."

Daniela Bouneou is originally from Torino, Italy, and went to a culinary school in France. She then met Maxime Bouneou who was the chef in a restaurant where she was the maître'd. They moved to Santa Fe six years ago. "Maxime came here a long time ago and wanted to come back," Daniela Bouneou said. She says the only complication in setting up their business was getting "confused with all these new words" at City Hall. They both speak four languages — French, Italian, English and Spanish.

They serve breakfast every day, but their focus is on lunch. They close at 4 p.m. and don't serve dinner.

"We serve 80 lunches every noon time. We deliver 600 sandwiches a week and this year will serve 23,000 sandwiches," she said. Besides their sit-down café that seats 20 inside and 10 outside, the Bouneous have an extensive customer base and sell their fresh sandwiches to such clients as Vitamin Cottage, Latitudes and Ten Thousand Waves. They also deliver to businesses and homes if it's pre-ordered. They have one employee in the kitchen and someone to do the deliveries.

"We make the fresh pasta every morning, and people can watch it being made. We cook in front of you. We have specials every day and make the sauces fresh. We try to make everyone happy," Daniela Bouneou said.

Patricia Antonicelli, who came to Santa Fe nearly five years ago from Milano, Italy, says she had a problem with the food in New Mexico.

"I wanted to experience real Italian food, and it wasn't here," she said. "Then I met her at the Chocolate Maven. I love her cooking. The ingredients, the sauces are real and aren't too heavy."

Liliana Hoffman is also Italian and has only great things to say about Torinos' @ Home. "If you haven't eaten there, you're in for a treat. It's hard to find true Italian flavor in Santa Fe, but they use the real spices. They've resisted the red chile" she said.

For Kristin Taglinti the food couldn't be better, and she uses Torinos' when she needs to cater special gatherings.

Daniela Bouneou says she and her husband also wanted to make an eco-friendly establishment. Their flatware is made of corn, and their cups are petroleum free. "We use hormone-free milk, meat and eggs. All our salads are organic. We don't pre-make anything. Also our prices make it affordable for people to eat out. Besides Italian food, we have brownies, cobbler and cakes. We sell out of our pasta every day," she said.


Owners: Maxime and Daniela Bouneou

Address: 227 Don Gaspar in Santa Fe Village

Employees: one

Phone: 982-4545

E-mail: order@torinosfoods.com

Web site: www.torinosfoods.com