My great-grandfather, Benedetto, started in the food
business in 1900, when he opened a typical taverna
in Borgetto, in the province of Palermo, serving local
wines such as Passito, Inzolia and, of course, Sicilian
reds, pasta, salads and Sicilian dishes.
Then my father continued the family tradition, and,
like many Sicilians, moved to America after WWII.
Along with his passion for culinary art, he had a
mission: to give back, through traditional cooking, the
flavors of Sicily to the community of immigrants in
Brooklyn. I started working at my uncle's Pizzeria in
New Jersey when I was twelve years old, and have
carried on in the family tradition ever since: the first
Francesco's opened on New York City’s Upper West
Side at Columbus Ave., in 1999, and was followed by
Francesco’s in Burlington, NJ in 2002. Our third
location, on West 4th Street in Greenwich Village,
was opened March 2009.