When Tony and Teresa Balistreri and their five siblings were growing up in Washington County, the large family ate all of its meals in the kitchen. The Town of Erin home, a converted barn, did not have a dining room.

Perhaps that familiarity with ovens and stoves played a role in Tony and Teresa's decision to go into the risky restaurant business. Together. At a tender age, when most young people are still in school or wrestling with big picture life choices.

The brother and sister opened Sala da Pranzo when he was 22 and she was 24, and the East Side restaurant will celebrate its 10th anniversary Oct. 2. Under any circumstances, survival in the difficult dining industry is a challenge that defeats many business veterans. The Balistreris have weathered two national calamities.

Sala da Pranzo welcomed its first customers only three weeks after Sept. 11, and it has made it through the deepest recession since the Great Depression. Teresa Balistreri says she and her brother never thought of aborting their restaurant dreams as the country went into emotional and financial shock following the terrorist attacks.

"We hung our (exhaust) hood in the kitchen that day (Sept. 11) and we were so tired," she recalls. "We were already so committed to opening, there was no holding back."

Tony and Teresa both began their restaurant careers at 15.

Teresa got a summer job in the deli at the Third Ward Caffe, making salads. She rode into the city from Washington County every day with her mother, who worked nearby. A sister was already waitressing at the restaurant.

Tony got his start working in their uncle's Door County pizzeria the summer he was 15. He was subsequently employed in kitchens at the old Boder's and Club Forest.

By the time they were in their early 20s, the brother and sister knew what they wanted. He would be behind the scenes in the kitchen and she would be managing the front of the restaurant.

"Tony has a knack, the natural ability to cook. I love the energy, the people, the lifestyle of the restaurant business. We both took to it and enjoyed it," Teresa says.

The knack and the enjoyment is probably connected to growing up in that Balistreri barn home.

"There was a culture of food in our family. For a long time we had big extended family dinners on Sundays," Teresa continues. "Both of our parents were excellent cooks."

Sala da Pranzo has a distinctive personality that reflects the siblings' vision for their restaurant. "We wanted it to be a comfortable, warm, homey place. We wanted elegant food in a casual atmosphere," Teresa explains.

The bistro's name is the Italian term for dining room, and the 50-seat venue is filled with eclectic art, floor lamps, some plants and various artifacts that suggest a home rather than a business. Space is not wasted. Wine bottles -- mostly Italian -- stand atop a deli case that contains a variety of prepared salads.

Sala sells 15 wines by the glass, starting at $5.50, and a broader selection by the bottle.

A 12-seat bar that also serves as a dining counter is squeezed into a corner of the storefront that once housed the Rainbow Jersey bicycle shop. The visual art, mostly painted by Balistreri family members, is hung salon style. The centerpiece is a portrait of Tony and Teresa's great-grandmother, Lena D'Amico, painted by an uncle.

She lived to the age of 101, and some of the recipes used in the restaurant are based on hers. "Tony learned some cooking techniques from her," Teresa says.

The Sala da Pranzo menu offers 10 pastas, ranging from angel hair tossed in a traditional tomato-basil sauce ($10) to fresh scallops and shrimp in a light tomato-cream sauce served over linguini ($20). Among the entrees, four dishes -- limone, parmesana, saltinbocca and marsala -- are featured with either chicken ($20) or veal ($28).

Grilled fresh salmon topped with a lemon and chive cream sauce ($20), fresh pan-seared halibut ($28), beef tenderloin ($28) and a grilled rib-eye ($22) are also on the menu. Daily specials are regularly offered. Entrees include soup or house salad and a side of pasta marinara or sauteed vegetables.

The half dozen salads on the menu include a traditional caesar made with raw egg ($6).

Teresa reports that the struggling economy of the last two years has affected sales. Customers have not stopped ordering the pricier items, but they don't come through the door as often as in the past. A wider net must be cast for new business.

Sala da Pranzo has responded in several ways. An expanded menu added such new appetizers as sauteed shrimp with lemon and pepper sauce ($10), crab cakes ($10) and garlic cheese bread ($8).

But most importantly, the restaurant entered the pizza market three months ago. Hand-tossed pies in 12- and 14-inch sizes can be topped with traditional items or such gourmet goodies as arugula, pancetta and Boursin cheese.

"We've talked about doing pizza over the years," Teresa says. "It's a fun thing for us to do, and we're hoping to see people on the days they are interested in eating lighter."

A new lunch menu is in the works, with sandwiches and panini priced at $7 to $10, salads at $5, and pastas $8 to $13. Much of the lunch business comes from UWM, which is a half block away. The dinner trade is based more on the neighborhood and beyond.

"We're off the beaten path and people feel a certain ownership of the restaurant," Teresa says. "We had a wedding here and lots of rehearsal dinners."

People often ask the Balistreris about male-female siblings being business partners. "It definitely has its challenges. But we each have our own skills we bring to the restaurant. We complement each other," Teresa says.

"Despite occasional frustrations, we kind of need each other. We trust each other, and we have always been best friends.

"When we started, we said, let's do this for 10 years and we'll see where we're at. Now it's 10 years, and we still want to do it."