NEW YORK, Feb 2 – Fans of Lady Gaga, who once famously donned a dress made with slabs of red meat, will now be able to tuck into some of the family dishes the starlet grew up on with the opening of her parents’ new Italian restaurant in New York.

Joe and Cynthia Germanotta opened Joanne Trattoria on New York’s Upper West Side yesterday night, a 70-seat eatery that will be helmed by Art Smith, formerly Oprah Winfrey’s private chef.

Named after Lady Gaga’s aunt Joanne who died of lupus at the age of 19, the Italian restaurant will serve some of the dishes Lady Gaga – born Stefani Germanotta – grew up on, including Spaghetti with Sunday Gravy & Joanne’s Meatballs, a Six-Layer Vegetable Lasagna and Veal Osso Bucco with Creamy Polenta.

And uncharacteristically for something associated with Lady Gaga, the restaurant itself is reserved and traditional in décor, with open brick walls, a roaring fireplace, wood tables and hardwood floors. The only evidence of the restaurant’s star power are the family portraits dotted throughout the eatery.

Last year, Wahlberg brothers Mark and Donnie also helped another brother Paul – one of nine siblings altogether – open a second restaurant in Hingham, Massachusetts called Wahlburgers, while rocker Bon Jovi opened a New Jersey bistro called The Soul Kitchen, a pay-what-you-can community eatery. – AFP