Great story of working your way up and of giving back and caring for others. #Repost @niafitalianamerican ・・・ #ItalianADay: Bruno Serato When fire ravaged California’s award-winning Italian White House Restaurant in Anaheim last February, chef and owner Bruno Serato received a consoling phone call from Sophia Loren. It was like a “hug through the phone,” admits Serato. Meanwhile, Serato wouldn’t let the blaze destroy his giving spirit. His philanthropic endeavor of feeding hungry children is still dishing out the pasta. “When things go bad, you have to stand up and keep going,” he says. Serato started working in his family’s Veronese trattoria at age 14. In 1980, the 24-year-old future chef arrived in America and labored his way up the restaurant food chain. He eventually went on to purchase the White House restaurant in 1987. In 2005, Serato’s mother, Caterina, was visiting from Verona. On a tour at the Boys & Girls Club of Anaheim, where Serato is a board member, they noticed a child eating potato chips for a meal. Caterina asked her son to go to his restaurant and cook pasta for the children. That same year, the nonprofit Caterina's Club was established. Since 2005, the charity has served more than 1.5 million free dinners to children in Southern California. With 100 percent of the profits from Serato’s autobiography (to be published in October) going to Caterina’s Club, his book is aptly titled, “The Power of Pasta: A Celebrity Chef’s Mission to Feed America’s Hungry Children.” For more information, visit his website at www.anaheimwhitehouse.com. #siciliansinla #westcoastsicilians #westcoastitalians
