The Dellaria Story

From a small village in Sicily, Dellaria’s Food was first conceived of many years ago in the small town of Villa Rosa where my grandfather and grandmother Dellaria were born. Olive trees and grapevines were abundant everywhere. My grandfather, Gaetano Dellaria, married my grandmother, Josephine Tomaselli, the family cook and the farmer, while my grandfather attended to the family business.

Gaetano and Josephine took the long trip to America, and raised their family in Pennsylvania, eventually settling in Chicago with all five children (Charles, Tony, John, Sammy and Josephine) tagging along.  My father John, the middle child,  married Mary Coppola and they had three children, Jo Ann, Gaetano, and me Jon, the baby of the family, cook and concert promoter.

In the old neighborhood on the south side of Chicago, everyone loved to bowl and play billiards. The bowling alley and billiards palace that my grandfather started always had a strong Italian coffee brewing and pot of sauce (with a baked loaf of hard-bread ready to dunk into the sauce). Everything was union-made and had the union paper label bug.  True to culture, my grandmother made the sauce from sweet cherry tomatoes, garlic, onions and lots of basil, and made with tons of love.

We are, and have always been, a family rich in cooking heritage and raised on strong brewed coffee. Look for the grand opening of Dellaria’s Food in the upcoming month, when we will soon be offering coffees and full body olive oils.