Today we’d like to introduce you to Anna Zuccarone.
Hi Anna, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My family of four and I moved here in Us from Italy in 2013 to follow our “America Dream. ” But we realized that it was not that t easy as everybody says. We worked very hard to open our first little spot. We learned so many things, and we learned so many life lessons, but we did not give up. We were homesick during our first year, and our first Christmas was terrible. But we met beautiful people, now friends, who helped us, and opened their homes to welcome us, that we will never forget. We all are in the restaurant business; I’m the owner of “Lady Baba,” I make the Neapolitan pastry called Baba, and I sell to many Italian Restaurants from Orlando down to Miami. I’m very proud of that because I honor my city Napoli whenever someone tries my delicious Baba’. My husband is a Chef with a long and reputable career. He worked for a fine-dining Italian restaurant in Orlando for seven years until august, when we finally opened ( with my business partner and friend Monica) our first restaurant in Avalon Park called Mangia. We quickly remodeled it since it was a pizza place before, and people loved us from the very first day. With no marketing and not even with the new sign, we are super busy, and we are so glad people love my husband’s cuisine. The wonderful Avalon Park l neighborhood welcomed us and supported us daily; people also love that we are a family owned and operating business. My older son Gennaro is the pizza chef, while my middle Simone, and my youngest, Sofia, run the front of the house. We offer authentic Italian cuisine.
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
So much culture shock, a language barrier, and homesickness; my young (64 years old ) dad unexpectedly died during the pandemia, and I could not go to Italy and say goodbye to him, which is still hurting me.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I owned a coffee shop in Italy, and my husband worked with the best Neapolitan chefs.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
We met many people; not everybody was good, but we learned something either way. I don’t know if luck exists. Hard work does.
Contact Info:
- Website: mangia-italian.com
- Facebook: mangia-italian.avalon
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/mangia-alafaya
