Tito Macaroni's

Tito's Story

From Val D'Agosta to Coeur d'Alene

Tito Macaroni (Maccheroni) was born in the Egadi Isles off the coast of Scicilia to L. Beau and Bellini Maccheroni. He was the eldest of the five children, three brothers (Guido, Chitarra and Boy R.D.) and one sister (Polipo).

Tito was a child of humble beginnings, growing up on the windward side of Egadi. In fact, Tito still walks with a tilt developed from the strong winds that buffeted the island during his youth. His father Leonardo, who went by the name L, was a pasta blower by trade. In fact, L descended from a long line of pasta blowers, a skill developed by his family, taking begoli pasta (a thick spaghetti) inserting a hollowed olive branch and blowing a hole through the begoli to create the familiar pasta which today bears the Macaroni name.

Tito was born short of the wind, so he sought a trade outside the family's traditional pasta blowing business and soon developed a reputation for his uncanny abilities at shaking his father's olive trees, then catching the ripened fruit before it hit the ground. Word of Tito's skills spread and he was soon summoned to Roma where he was given a Papal apprenticeship at the Vatican. It was while in Roma that Tito developed his love for cooking, honing his skills under some of the great Italian chefs of the era.

From Roma, Tito and his brother Guido, who was also a short-of-breath Macaroni, headed north to the mountains of the Val d'Aosta, famous for soups, wild game and castles. It is here that the Macaroni Brothers perfected the pizza oven and the pizza pies which would become their staples in America. The mountains of Val d'Aosta also provided Tito the resources to develop his antipastos, minestrone, zuppa pavese and other Northern Italian specialties, each rich in the mountain herbs that grow wild across the region.

Armed with an impressive knowledge of Italian cooking, and unmatched expertise in pizza ovens, Tito and his brother Guido left Italy for America. The fond remembrance of the Egadi winds drew the Macaroni's to Chicago and the home of the fellow Sicilians and long-time friends, the Corleone family. With the Corleone's influence, Tito opened his first American restaurant, creating a unique eatery which soon became one of the Windy City's top spots.

But alas, Tito and Guido longed for the quieter times they had enjoyed in the Italian Alps, so they began a search of America for a tourist spot which included a small "d" in its name, as did their beloved Val d'Aosta. A place where the winds blow strong and olive trees cover the mountain slopes. Settling for two out of three, the Macaroni's selected Coeur d'Alene, famed for its steady winds that so delighted area sailors. So it was that Tito and Guido headed West with their pizza oven, a barrel of Chianti and a keg of extra virgin olive oil, arriving in Coeur d'Alene to begin the next chapter of their lives.

And for the good people of the Inland Northwest, dining out would never be the same.