130904 Restaurant Garden 1

James Neiss/staff photographerTown of Niagara, NY - Ignazio "Nash" Ognibene, 83, shows off fresh picked eggplant used in his restaurants popular eggplant parmesan. Ognibene opened the Casa Nova Italian American Ristorante on Military Road in 1975 and has been using produce in recipes from a garden just outside that he works with his own two hands. At left, is his son John, who took over the restaurant in 1995.