Gaga's Dad and Chef Art Smith to Open Restaurant

Lady Gaga is helping her father, Joe Germanotta, realize a dream by backing a restaurant that he will run with gay chef Art Smith, slated to open in early February.

Joanne Trattoria will feature a menu of Germanotta family recipes and Smith's own creations, the New York Post reports. Smith told the Post that Joanne's is "a tiny restaurant with a Southern soul and an Italian heart."

The first mention of Germanotta's restaurant came during A Very Gaga Thanksgiving on ABC. Gaga revealed a special gift to her father during an interview with Katie Couric. She said she planned to help him open a restaurant, something he had always wanted to do.

In her interview, Gaga stated that the name of the restaurant comes from her deceased aunt Joanne.

"To watch him open the restaurant of his dreams," Gaga told Couric, "and have it called Joanne after his sister, that's wealth."
Gaga has told many media outlets, including Couric, about her connection to her aunt, who died before Gaga was born.

Joanne's will feature a year-round garden and an eat-in bar, with total seating for 70, according to the West Side Rag.The restaurant is due to open February 1 at 70 W. 68th St., on New York's Upper West Side.