Food Profiles

There is an old saying in Italian culture: “Families are like a fortress.” Tucked away in west suburban River Forest are two small businesses started by an Italian immigrant who wanted to create a fortress for his family and a business for his five children. Frank Bertolli is the proud owner of Bertolli’s River Pizza and Frank’s Deli, located at 7973 and 7971 Lake Street respectively. All five of his children — Carlo, Tony, John, Nora and Marilda — have had a hand in Bertolli’s success. Bertolli was born in 1949 in Mola di Bari. He came to the United …

When a young man works behind a deli at age 15, does he dream one day of owning it? Pat Roberto did. Most high schoolers work evenings, weekend and summers mowing lawns, babysitting or painting homes. But Roberto’s part-time job blended his Italian heritage with his quest for the future. “I had jobs here and there at Calabria Imports,” describes Roberto. “I always had the time in the summer to work at the store behind the deli, as a stock boy or a cashier. I grew up in it.” Spending the majority of his extracurricular life at Calabria Imports set …

Ernest Hemingway once wrote, “Wine is the most civilized thing in the world.” Michael Mangini wholeheartedly agrees. When you’re sipping a Chianti at your favorite local ristorante, chances are good that it was made available by Mangini’s company, Tuscany Distributors of Illinois. After all, Mangini’s company distributes about 200,000 bottles of wine a year in the Chicago area alone. “We are the exclusive distributor for 230 different Italian wines,” Mangini explains. “Our wines come from all over Italy: Sicily, Lombardia, Venice, Naples, Bari and, of course, Tuscany.” Mangini was introduced to the wine business by a friend who owns Tuscany …

Italians aren’t really known for baking pies. When it comes to sweets, things like cannoli or biscotti are what usually come out of an Italian kitchen. But Peter Fasano’s family must be doing something right. Fasano Pies has been in business in the Chicago area for four generations. Our story begins in 1927, when Italian immigrant Joseph Fasano Sr. started loading trucks for Wagner Pie Co. As a dedicated employee, he worked his way up to driving and selling pies on a route he started from scratch. “Why pies? My grandfather just loved, loved, loved the pie business,” says Peter …

  It’s hard to grow a family business growing without completely transforming it, but third-generation meat packing exec Angelo Brooks Carmignani is keeping 75-year-old Randolph Packing Co. in a strong growth mode by sticking to one simple ingredient, loyal employees. Randolph was started in 1928 by Angelo Carmignani, an immigrant from Lucca who came to the United States with a skill for making Italian sausage, and scraped up enough money to start a business that played to his strengths. “Everything was based around the family,” says the 43-year Brooks, who currently served vice president at Randolph. “And my grandfather had …

Thanks to a credit card company, a husband-and-wife team in Lincolnshire is living a dream. In 1995, Antonella Granito was contacted by her credit card company. She had one month to use her airline points or she was going to lose them. Granito decided to take a two-week trip to Italy to visit her father’s family. It was on this trip to Campagna, Salerno, that she met her future husband, Nunzio Bottiglieri. “It was love at first sight,” says Granito. “After a two-week vacation, I came back to Chicago, took a leave of absence from my job with the Department …

“My daughter stopped growing when she was 9 years old,” recalls Luciano Libreri. “We didn’t know why and she had to go for tests. It came up she had Celiac disease.” Celiac disease is a digestive and autoimmune disorder that can damage the lining of the small intestine. Those with Celiac cannot consume gluten because it prevents the small intestine from absorbing nutrients from food. Gluten is found in wheat, barley, rye and possibly oats. Left untreated, Celiac disease can lead to serious long-term health problems. It’s also a disease that has helped put Da Luciano Pizza, Pasta and Catering …

After spending 22 successful years in the restaurant business, why would anyone want to go into the “wings” business? “I wanted to do something different, and besides, everyone likes wings,” states Michael Pace. Pace has turned a popular snack into a delicacy, mastering the process along the way. In the process, he has created Wingboss, a fast food restaurant in Berwyn specializing in chicken wings. Each of his nine flavored sauces are original recipes Pace created based on his years of experience in food service. In 1990, Pace left the hectic and unstable world of the Board of Trade to …

Italians cannot live without their wine. It doesn’t matter if it’s red, white or prosecco, vino holds a place of honor at our table, whether we’re eating at home or dining out. According to the Wine Institute, more than 26 million bottles of wine are produced annually throughout the world. There’s nothing better than sitting down to dinner at a restaurant and being able to order your favorite bottle of wine. But how do restaurant owners and their wine buyers find that special bottle for their customers? Now, they can turn to Wine2Find.com. Launched earlier this year, Wine2Find.com has accomplished …