Salvatore Vetri, 87, a retired business owner and real estate broker, and father figure to the Philadelphia restaurant community, died unexpectedly Wednesday at his home on Rittenhouse Square of natural causes, his family said.

Mr. Vetri — Sal or Salvy to everyone — was the father of Risa Vetri Ferman, a Montgomery County Common Pleas Court judge and former district attorney; Marc Vetri, a James Beard Award-winning chef; and Adam Vetri, a Los Angeles-based producer and director of such TV series as Barmageddon, The Amazing Race, and Getaway Driver.