Dine and Dish: Parma Ristorante in northwest Fresno

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Parma at Palm and Herndon in northwest Fresno is named after the hometown of owner Elena Corsini Mastro.

"I want to provide fresh food from my city Parma, a city in north Italy near Milan. The city where they make the parmesan cheese. They make the prosciutto Parma ham," Mastro said.

Just as she did when the restaurant opened in 1999, Mastro still comes in to make fresh pasta, including ravioli.

Chef Rafael Hernandez prepared Coniglio (or rabbit) served with polenta.

"The recipe calls for fresh tomatoes, bell peppers, carrots, celery, onion. You marinate it all," Mastro said.

"It is a popular dish because there's not too many places that do have rabbit on their menu," Hernandez said.

The quail salad with arugula is another dish you might not be familiar with.

The same can be said of the sweet and savory breast of duck. It's prepared with grilled apple, pear and polenta.

All of these dishes represent Mastro's friendly hometown of Parma.

"I try to create the same city in Fresno and I think I did," Mastro said.

"There's a lot of care and passion that goes behind every dish that we put out," Hernandez said.

Sometimes you just need a towering plate of pasta.

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