Jan NorrisDue Cuori Ristorante takes off: ‘We didn’t know we were going to blow up like this.’
An unlikely duo has opened a 60-seat Italian restaurant, Due Cuori Ristorante, in a former Lake Park diner spot, and they have social media buzzing.
Alfredo Verrone, who is from a small town near Bologna, Italy, and Monique Rabyor, of Loxahatchee, opened Due Cuori, named for their relationship. The phrase is Italian for “two hearts.” Their tagline is “Two hearts, one passion.”
The married couple opened the restaurant Memorial Day weekend but had few diners to speak of.
In mid-June, however, a customer wrote a glowing review of Due Cuori on a neighborhood social media feed, and they found themselves turning away diners for lack of tables or space for them to wait. They also had to close for lunch to prepare for the dinner crowds.
“That hurt a little,” Rabyor said. “I love my lunches.”
“We have created a monster,” Verrone said. “We didn’t know we were going to blow up like this.”
Plaza is blocks from Nautilus 220
Rabyor had been looking for a restaurant space since 2025. A former restaurant manager, she decided to open her own after leaving her job.
The couple looked around the county for an appropriate space, first landing on a Jupiter space previously occupied by an Italian restaurant.
“But the lease was up in 2030, and we didn’t want to take a chance on it,” Rabyor said.
The small space in the plaza at 405 U.S. 1, just north of the new Nautilus 220 condo in Lake Park, caught their eye.
“We watched the progress of Seahawk Prime,” Verrone said, referring to the steakhouse in the Nautilus that opened at the end of 2025. “We decided to look at this and take a chance.”
They signed the lease for the space a couple of blocks north of Nautilus 220 in December and went to work redesigning the interior, adding a pizza oven, refurbishing the small kitchen and honing the all-Italian menu.
‘We are authentic’
Rabyor is in charge of the front of house and hospitality as well as helping with the menu. She brings more than 22 years’ experience serving diners and managing restaurants.
Verrone, who runs a luxury auto restoration shop, now oversees the kitchen. He opened several restaurants in Italy, and tapped his brother, a chef, for recipes.
“We are authentic,” Verrone said. “There’s no Alfredo sauce. No vodka sauce. You won’t find those in Italy.”
The one dish too popular to avoid is chicken Parmesan. “It’s not found in Italy,” Rabyor said. But it’s a customer favorite, she said, and they have to have it.
The pizza maker, Pasquale Parente, is also Italian but grew up in Brooklyn. “He was retired, but we talked him into coming here. He wanted to help us.”
The pizza is Italian-style now, Verrone said. “At first, it was very American-Italian style” — red sauce and cheese, pepperoni.
Now, he says, they are Italian, with ingredients not usually found on American pizza.
The Due Cuori pie is a ricotta-cheese base, topped with eggplant, guanciale, mushrooms, and spinach.
Homemade recipes, imported ingredients
Almost all of the recipes are from scratch. Ingredients are fresh, or imported from Italy if unavailable here.
“Our olives and capers are imported,” Verrone said. “They are the best.”
Most of the pastas are house-made, along with the focaccia. A plate of the thick bread dotted with sun-dried tomatoes and onion is sent to each table before the meal. It’s served with roasted garlic in oil for dipping.
“I fought for the roasted garlic. He didn’t want it,” Rabyor said.
It’s one of only a few dishes and nuances that have created friction between the pair as they’ve worked on the restaurant.
“We are up and down like any relationship,” Verrone said, shrugging. “It’s easy to fight, but we finally agree on most things.”
Rabyor said: “I wanted red-and-white tablecloths. Alfredo didn’t.” He won.
As for the menu items, “We weren’t going to put Italian names on the menu. But we decided to make it authentic.”
Lots of classic Italian dishes
The menu is filled with classics: cacio e pepe, osso buco with saffron-infused rice, and lasagna — the authentic style from central Italy made with béchamel.
Eggplant is served as an appetizer — not breaded nor fried but stacked.
“We chose the bestseller from each region,” Verrone said.
Prices are described as reasonable, especially for the large portions, Verrone said.
A burrata and prosciutto salad is $14; fritto di calamari verdure is $18; lasagna a Bolognese is $28; spaghetti with house-made polpette (meatballs), $26. They have increased prices on some dishes on the menu created in mid-July.
Their menu has attracted patrons seeking authentic Italian dishes.
“I did not know how many Italians were here,” Verrone said. Diners are coming from all over the county, he added.
“One gentleman came in and said the first thing he looks for on the menu is fettuccine Alfredo. If it’s on the menu, he won’t go there.”
It was Rabyor’s idea to include some history and the dates of origin for the dishes on the menu.
That includes the saffron risotto, with a legend tied to the Cathedral of Milan. Verrone tells a brief version.
“There was a huge cathedral and the artist was using saffron to stain the glass. Some of it got into the rice served for lunch. And there you are,” Verrone said.
Plans for expansion
Rabyor is also in charge of the wine list that leans Italian and seasonal. “I have the Italians plus a pinot noir and sauvignon blanc right now. In winter, I’ll have Amarones and Barolos.”
She knows her audience: “It’s summertime: I’m not sitting on a $300 bottle of wine in summer.”
There are plans for expansion — adding a patio for outdoor dining is a priority.
“We want to put in a patio on the side of the building by fall,” Rabyor said. “The breeze comes right through here, off the water like a wind tunnel.” The Lake Park Marina sits a block east of them.
“It will be for the beach people. They like to sit outside. And it’s for people who want to bring their dog,” Verrone said. They also need a waiting area, he said.
Verrone plans to organize luxury car shows in the parking lot on Saturday afternoons.
Brunch, along with live, light music and a number of other services are planned.
But right now, they’re just trying to keep up with the diners wanting a table.
“This is our baby,” Verrone said. “We need to raise it right.”
Due Cuori is open Tuesday-Sunday for dinner beginning at 5 p.m. Reservations are strongly recommended.
While they accept takeout orders by phone or online, there is no delivery available at this writing; it’s pickup only.
Editor’s note: This updated version fixes several errors regarding the menu.
