108 S. Tennessee Avenue
Cowan, Tennessee
(931) 962-3380
The Story of Sernicola's
Giuseppe 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. Giuseppe 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 moved north to Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, and other midwestern cities to work in the manufacturing industries. One of the many young women who left Tennessee and moved north was Louella Gipson, a native of the Oak Grove farming community (about 7 miles northwest of Cowan). Louella took a job at an aircraft assembly plant in Akron that was an essential supplier to the U.S. Military. She was introduced to Frank Sernicola, Maria and Giuseppe's younger son. (Frank was not able to enlist in the miltary due to a hearing problem, so he too worked in manufacturing to supply the war effort.)
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) in Tullahoma, Tennessee.
Frank thrilled his friends and his Tennessee in-laws with his culinary expertise that he learned from his mother and father. His friends told him on numerous occassions that he should open a restaurant as soon as he retired from ARO, which Frank fully intended to do. Unfortunately, Frank fell ill shortly after his retirement and was bedridden for three months. A few years later, his poor health resulted in another episode that forced him to have a kidney removed. Given the risk to his health, Frank could not open a restaurant.
Sadly, in February 2000, Frank died suddenly and unexpectedly of at the age of 75. His wife, children and grandchildren were absolutely devastated, but at the same time astonished by the immense turnout at Frank's funeral. Although he was not a Franklin County native, he was loved by hundreds of people who were equally saddened by his sudden death.
His middle daughter Rose, married to Steve Pearson, a Cowan native, decided to fulfill her father's dream. In the September 2003 the Pearson's opened Sernicola's restaurant in a historic downtown building in Cowan.
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.
The kitchen at Sernicola's uses some of the family recipes, particularly the alfredo and bolognese sauces. The pizza crust at Sernicola's was developed by a sister restaurant in Europe also owned by member of the Sernicola family.
For more history about the restaurant building, click here to read Memories of Copeland's Cafe.
Frank and Louella Sernicola
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