Giuseppe Laragione did not begin his career in the restaurant business, although he did grow up surrounded by authentic Italian cooking. Born in Naples, Giuseppe worked for a company that made oxygen in his native Italy before deciding to travel to the United States to make a better life for his family. On Friday, January 4, Giuseppe turned 80 years old.

“He had a great job, actually,” Franco Laragione, his son and owner of Mama Maria’s today, said. “He had more than 100 men working under him. However, he knew that the plant had been purchased and was being turned into a Navy base, one that still exists there today. His brother was married to an American and had become an American citizen, so he came to work in New Jersey for two years in the  1970s.”