Every once in a while, there comes a restaurant with just the right combination of delicious food and welcoming hospitality that it becomes part of the fabric of a town, where long after its final dishes are served, it remains part of the fond collective memories of its inhabitants.

Such was the case of the Arizona Restaurant and its beloved co-owner and chef “Mamma” Teresa Andreoli who, with her husband, Merino, purchased the Arizona in 1967, and, as First Selectman Mary Mitta proclaimed “began the tradition of the best Italian food anywhere.”