For about 20 years, a bright line separated Arapahoe and Douglas Counties. Littleton was a fully grown city going all the way to County Line Road. There it abruptly stopped. Across the road was Douglas County, unspoiled prairie.

Time Magazine ran an article in the '80s about urban sprawl with a full page aerial of the County Line Road contrast. This contrast exists today but more in the makeup of the two populations. The Littleton side has well established neighborhoods and longstanding commercial strips. South of County Line, the world changes with tons of little kids in new elementary schools bursting at the seams complete with trailers and track systems. Today, an Italian-American family with two restaurants tell a tale of this contrast.

In the '80's, Highlands Ranch's first strip center, at Broadway and Springer, had a 7-Eleven as the only place you could buy a loaf of bread. The sole Highlands Ranch post office was in the back of a dry cleaners two doors down. When the 7-Eleven moved on, the space was converted into a restaurant, Bisetti's. When Bisetti's finally was shuttered, the venerable Romano's, a Littleton landmark, took the plunge and opened their second store.

The Romano family, consisting of Neil, Ellie and their children, John, Sue and Nick, had been cooking up great family fare in Littleton since 1967 when Nick remembers that on their first day they sold nothing but a Coke.

Today, at the Highlands Ranch location, the Romano children carry on their father's success to the delight of the Highlands Ranch residents who enjoy the authentic Italian cooking inherited from their father and further developed in the Littleton location.

Signature Dishes of Colorado features nonchain, chef-driven restaurants. Many communities are easy for Sigdishes to feature. Like Littleton, these communities are full of old, established restaurants that are literally loved by the locals. Romano's Littleton Store is one of these. The location in Littleton has a long-established clientele as it deserves.

Highlands Ranch is different. Some call it "chain city". The severely master planned aspects of this suburban development make its very hard for a non-chain restaurant to even get space to open. The Big Box developers usually refuse to lease to non-chains and hold out for a chain restaurant with its major corporate backing.

Since most of the people who move to Highlands Ranch like the instant familiarity of a restaurant with a brand name they know, the math seems to work. All of this combines to make Highlands Ranch a tough place to find non-chain, chef-driven restaurants. Thankfully, Romano's with actual chefs in the kitchen cooking up their lasagne fresh every morning, has entered this austere culinary arena.

Because the two Romano's stores are only 2 miles apart, the family travels between the Littleton and Highlands Ranch facilities on a daily basis. The menu is the same at both places and the food at both places is prepared under the supervision of the Romanos. Head Chef Nicholas Romano has developed a number of dishes in coordination with his father, Neil, and the food is fresh, crisp, and complex as you would expect from any "real" non-chain restaurant.

Romano's salads are a must. The fresh veggies have only met a few moments before you eat them. They compete with one another for your attention as you bite down. MoltoBene! Romano's has taken Fettuccine Alfredo and made it a landmark signature dish called simply Fettuccine alla Romano, an epicurean delight to which they have added chicken, peas and mushrooms.

This place makes everything from scratch and it shows. You can watch a streaming video of the Patron, Neil Romano, rolling up dough to make pizzas and Nick making Canoles from scratch at the Signature Dishes of Colorado web site.