Joe Fresta's Books

The House That Pasta Built

By: Joe Fresta

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This book is based on a true story, about a group of second-generation Italian /Sicilian kids from The Hill in South St. Louis, and their dream of building a successful chain of Italian restaurants. They had no money in the beginning, but it did not stop them from embarking on a roller coaster path to success. They faced one trauma after another, survived the early tragic death of one of the founders, and took on heavy debt to buy out the other original founder. They survived the 1980s when the prime rate reached a record high of 20 per cent, barley keeping the doors open, and struggled for two years. Two other partners relinquished their ownership to be relieved from the debt at the bank, leaving the business to three partners, Joe Fresta, John Ferrara, and Kim Tucci. That trio never lost hope, nor the 'Dream'. Throwing in the towel was not to be. Negative was not part of their vocabulary. The desire to succeed, overcame all the traumas, recessions, and financial difficulties. The business survived even the untimely death of their leader John Ferrara, and Kim Tucci's battle with cancer, and his passing. And then Covid, shutting down the day-to-day operation in 2020; reopening with 25 percent seating capacity. Perhaps survivor of the fittest was coined for this story, it seemed to hang over the business, like a dark cloud on a rainy day in April. And then it was down to one, Joe Fresta outlived his partners and all the traumas, and runs the business today, as if it was ordained from the beginning, fifty years ago.

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Covenant Books, Inc.

Published Date

ISBN 10

1685267971

ISBN 13

9781685267971

Italy, Under my Skin

Sights, Scenes, Stories... My travels the past 30 years

By: Joe Reina

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Italy, Under my Skin

Sights, Scenes, Stories... My travels the past 30 years

By: Joe Reina

You will miss much of Italy’s fascinating, little-known, hidden treasures unless you enrich your trip with the experience of Joe Reina, the son of Sicilian immigrants, and his encounters with Italy’s hidden delights during his decades of business and pleasure trips. Most guidebooks and guides who lead tours provide you bare-bones historical facts, but they seldom can regale their tourists with insider’s awareness of stories and events. Reina’s travel-earned familiarity with landmarks and the artists who created them offers an insider’s grasp of the famous personalities who built and artistically adorned “the glory that was Rome.” In Milan, The Last Supper, which took DaVinci three years to paint, is hung with Donato’s Crucifixion, initially painted in a church destroyed (except for one wall) by Allied bombers in World War II. The Last Supper is on your right as you enter, and Crucifixion is on your left. In Rome’s Piazza Campo de’ Fiori, sits Ristorante da Pancrazio, a waiter will lead you down a cellar to the remains of how the entire piazza was built atop the ruins of what was once General Pompey’s theater, which could seat forty thousand people. In Rome’s Piazza Navona, the seventeenth-century Pope engaged three leading sculptors to create the fountains, the first designed by Bernini, leading sculpture of his era. Bernini became incensed when Borromini was commissioned to build a church directly across from his fountain. In retribution, Bernini had his largest statue of a man lying on his side in the fountain; his hand outstretched directly at Borromini’s church. Once both were constructed, Bernini sent his rival this message: “My statue will catch your church when it falls.” Reina’s historical information of tourist sites to visit and the best restaurants and hotels that fit any budget is invaluable.

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202

Publisher

Covenant Books, Inc.

Published Date

ISBN 10

1685266878

ISBN 13

9781685266875

The House That Pasta Built

By: Joe Fresta

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The House That Pasta Built

By: Joe Fresta

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

Publisher

Covenant Books, Inc.

Published Date

ISBN 10

1685267971

ISBN 13

9781685267971

Book's by Joe Fresta

The House That Pasta Built

The House That Pasta Built

Italy, Under my Skin

Italy, Under my Skin

The House That Pasta Built

The House That Pasta Built

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