Our Story

In 1889, the Farina Family left Catania, Sicily, in search of new opportunities; they arrived to New York on a colorful autumn day and were welcomed by the newly unveiled Statue of Liberty.

Weekends at grandmas were special for the children, in particular for young Filippo who enjoyed helping La Nonna prepare Sunday brunch. As Filippo grew, so did his love for the kitchen. He worked in different local restaurants washing dishes and doing small chores, but soon enough his efforts paid off and cooks would fight over Filippo’s hard work. His pass through several venues in “Little Italy” taught him the use of some American products in Italian cuisine, a novelty to him as these were seldom used in La Nonna’s kitchen.

In the mid 20’s he began working in his uncle Ciccio’s Trattoria where combining his newly acquired knowledge of American kitchen basics with La Nonna’s secret recipes soon made his cooking a local favorite. Word quickly spread and people from all over New York would flock in to taste this new cuisine and meet Filippo, which made Italians undoubtedly proud. Filippo was left in charge of the trattoria in the early 30’s.

The already famous restaurant became a favorite hot spot for politicians, artists and even a few members of the “Commission”, which handled business for “La Cosa Nostra” in the United States. Such unusual crowd spiked the curiosity of locals.

It is with this family anecdote, paying tribute to La Nonna’s recipes and Filippo’s creative talent in the kitchen, that we bring to you DIVIETO.

 

A celebration of the origin of a new culinary trend: the fusion between Italian and American cuisine