Breaking Bread and Building Stories: A Story About Pizza

As far as family heritage goes, Italian roots run pretty deep. We’re built on family tradition, loyalty, love, good food, and hard work. These foundational themes were present all throughout my childhood and their value was ever-present as I raised my own daughter and taught her all the things that the generations before had bestowed on me.

A significant piece of Italian culture is (you guessed it)— food. We gather around the table as often as we can, sharing stories, enjoying family recipes, and celebrating our heritage the only way we know how. If you ever get the chance to share a meal with an authentic Italian family, I highly recommend it. It’s an experience you’ll never forget.

How Good Food Defines My Italian Heritage

Any homegrown Italian has similar stories to share — Sunday suppers after mass, breaking bread with new friends, and a grandmother who made the most delicious pizzelles you’ve ever tasted.

The treasured heritage that we Italians love to share with those outside our culture truly begins and ends with food. Most stories shared around the table involve food—pasta, pizza, sandwiches, butter cookies—you name it. So many of my childhood memories include food; whether at my grandparents’ pizzeria, at my own family’s dinner table, or with the locals and neighbors who frequented our family restaurant.

Food has a magical way of bonding people, bringing them closer, and showing them that we aren’t all as different as we seem. I believe in my soul that is exactly what my grandfather dreamt of when opening his pizza restaurant in the 1960s—he wanted other cultures to experience the Italian delicacy in a place that felt like home. He dreamt of bringing his family’s recipes over to America and sharing in the magic, the authenticity, and the appreciation for tradition.

Sharing the Heritage of Italy through A Story About Pizza

Throughout my research, while writing A Story About Pizza, I found a few Italian heritage books that inspired my writing and motivated me to confidently share my grandfather’s story.?

Pietro’s life as a coal miner in Abruzzo, Italy, was filled with hardship and little hope. He left his home in the early 1900s for America and the promise of a brighter future for himself and his family.

While immigrating presented its own trials and tribulations, Pietro was Italian. He was a fighter, he was a dreamer, and he believed his heritage would carry him through even the toughest times. When he opened his pizzeria in a small town in Pennsylvania, sharing his heritage and culture with his customers was all he wanted (besides selling the best pizza in the city, of course).

And boy, did he succeed.

For 65 years, D’Arc’s Pizza in Windber, Pennsylvania has been a source of joy, good food, Italian culture, and family for everyone who steps through its doors. Even today when I visit, I am transported back in time to being a little girl playing in the basement with my cousins and my grandmother nearby.

Read More in A Story About Pizza

Writing a book about my family’s heritage felt like a huge responsibility. I wanted to do it right and tell my grandfather’s story in a way that would accurately represent everything he faced and all that he achieved.

My grandfather, the D’Arcangelo patriarch, was nothing short of amazing in every way. A humble servant to the community, the leader of our family, a friend, a husband, a father. He was truly the epitome of an Italian family man and sharing his life story has been incredibly humbling and therapeutic for me.

To learn more about my Italian heritage and purchase my book, visit AStoryAboutPizza.com.