When was buddy larosa born

He speaks with great fondness of backyard gardens, of how much the life and culture echoed Italy, of huge feasts attended by even huger families, of working for various uncles and neighbors at their bakeries, fruit-and-vegetable stands, butcher shops, and markets.

Through that experience, he says he learned what he needed to know when the time came to open his own place. His keen memory also includes the divorce of his parents. Though he was only 2 or 3 years old at the time, the split certainly changed his life.

His mother, Mary, was born in America; his father, Tony, eight years older, was born in Sicily and grew up in the tough West End. Buddy tried it for a little while but soon moved on to other interests.

He says his grandmother took on the role of mother while his mother, only 18 years older than him, was like a sister. A divorce in the tight-knit Catholic Italian-American community in the early s was very unusual, and Buddy has spoken elsewhere about the scars of the split.

If he already felt isolated from mainstream America, the divorce probably made him feel outside the norm even in his own neighborhood. But then his eyes well up a bit, and he looks off at the wall beyond the kitchen. I would go to stay sometimes with my grandparents in the West End, but he was a truck driver and a boxer and so he was busy. Beside the point. At St. We were Italians.

Perhaps, too, the desire to build a strong and secure foundation for his family sparked the idea to open a place of his own. Here in Cincinnati, Capri Pizza opened for business in Hartwell in , and Buddy recalls seeing a commercial on television for Capri sometime in Her pizza was known throughout the neighborhood as the best. He kept his job at the post office, running the restaurant from 4 in the afternoon until 10 at night, then heading for the late shift beginning at He tried to interest friends and family in investing in the place, but no one thought he had a chance for success.

Pizza was still too new—too foreign—to Americans, especially west-siders, even then known for being slow to embrace the unknown. They thought he was crazy. To get a clearer sense of that view, I asked Jeff Ruby—no, not that one; the food writer for Chicago magazine and co-author of the book Everybody Loves Pizza Emmis Books —for some perspective.

Granted, there were pizzerias popping up here and there by , but the dish was still a novelty—or completely alien—to the average American. And the places that existed were, for the most part, in Italian neighborhoods. Buddy LaRosa was either ahead of his time, or he was nuts. Ignoring the naysayers, Buddy believed his timing was right. Pizza was ready to boom, fueled by the appetites of teenagers. To them, pizza was cool.

It was new. The LaRosa Family Foundation plans to invest in local programs focused on providing kids with the tools they need to achieve success. Additional details and information on grant process and timing will be announced by mid Buddy LaRosa, age 5 Provided.

Buddy LaRosa — Provided. Previous Toto. Health Covid Vaccine Trial Today. The restaurant quickly became a popular hangout among high school kids and families in the west side. Aside from pizza, patrons have over 40 delicious Italian options on the menu to choose from that include hoagys, calzones, pasta, desserts, and more.

He likes to keep things classic and simple with a specialty his mom used to make growing up when they had leftover dough and marinara sauce: a classic cheese pizza on pan crust. Buddy has certainly accomplished a lot over the past 90 years, using his platform to serve more than just pizza. With the new foundation in place, his family's influence will only continue to expand its reach in positive ways. Want all the latest on dining, fashion, travel, events, and more delivered straight to your inbox?