His daughter, Emma, was accepted to the School of American Ballet. This restaurant sold in 2007.įranco decided to go back to New York because both of his daughters were involved with ballet in the East. February 2003 marked the next evolution for Franco Fazzuoli’s cuisine: the opening of Franco’s Italian Caffe’ in the Camelback Esplanade.

Franco’s Trattoria was also listed in the Zagat Guide for the Southwest with a top tier rating and identified as one of the finest Italian restaurants in the West. In 1994, Franco caught the attention of a visiting food writer and a New York Time’s story resulted with Franco’s Trattoria being featured as the only Italian restaurant among Arizona’s top restaurants. He also worked one summer at Trattori Dante in Florence, Italy. Every summer, Steve would go to Florence and stay with Franco’s mother to learn her style of Tuscan food and living. In 1995, he and Steve sold that restaurant and opened at a larger site nearby at Hayden Rd. As happened in New York, his great popularity outgrew this location. For the next three years, Franco and Steve both worked the line together at the new Franco’s Trattoria in Scottsdale located at Hayden Rd. Steve had just returned from New York where he had been working at a restaurant named Peteluma. This was the start of a long and successful relationship.

Franco met a young chef at a barbecue whose name was Steven Martin. He moved from the streets of New York to the Arizona desert. In 1987, franco once again uprooted himself. New York Magazine soon declared, “no matter what the kitchen does with pasta, it’s splendid.” But, Franco’s third restaurant: Cent’Anni (meaning one hundred years) was the restaurant that brought the young chef national acclaim. Next, Franco opened a second restaurant called Zinno in Greenwich Village. After six years, Franco grew out of this small, successful, authentic Italian restaurant. The food was inexpensive and reminiscent of his Tuscan roots. It was a throwback to a neighborhood Italian restaurant like those of the forties and fifties. Saving money for eight years, Franco founded his next restaurant: II Ponte Vechio which opened in 1975. He also worked as a cook at night and a manager at the Carrano Bouitque during the day. In New York City, he worked as a dishwasher, busboy, and in the pantry. Even though his restaurant was destroyed, Franco stayed in Florence helping the “mud Angels” recover the art that was ruined by the flood.Īt the age of 25, Franco left Italy for America to pursue his own adventure. That restaurant was destroyed in a massive flood that affected the entire town. In 1966, Franco rejoined civilian life and co-founded a Trattoria in Florence. He also cooked for his fellow officers, friends, and family during his leisure time. In his late teens, Franco left Florence to serve in the Italian Army as a paratrooper. Like many chefs and restauranteurs, Franco’s start in the restaurant world came as a job washing dishes. He nurtured his first known passion in the picturesque place of his youth. From a long line of Tuscan epicureans and landowners, Franco inherited a love for food and entertaining. Franco Fazzuoli was born in Italy in the city of Florence in 1942.

Francos italian caffe