Gennaro Lombardi was an Italian

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

who moved to the United States in 1897, and known for opening the first pizzeria in the United States,

Lombardi's Lombardi's is a pizzeria located at 32 Spring Street on the corner of Mott Street in the Nolita neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan, New York City. Opened in 1905, it has been recognized by the Pizza Hall of Fame as the first pizzeria in t ...

. He opened a small grocery store in New York City's Little Italy. An employee of his, Antonio Totonno Pero, also an Italian immigrant, began making pizza for the store to sell. Their pizza became so popular that Lombardi opened the first US pizzeria in 1905, naming it simply Lombardi's. Although Lombardi was influenced by the pies of Naples, he was forced to adapt pizza to Americans. The wood-fired ovens and ''

mozzarella di bufala Mozzarella (, ; nap, muzzarella ) is a southern Italian cheese traditionally made from Italian buffalo's milk by the pasta filata method. Fresh mozzarella is generally white but when seasoned it turns to a light yellow depending on the anima ...

'' were substituted with coal powered ovens and ''fior di latte'' (made from cow's milk), and so began the evolution of the American Pie. In 1924, Totonno left Lombardi's and followed the expanding

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lines to

Coney Island Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, Manhattan Beach to its east, L ...

, where he opened

Totonno's Totonno's is a pizzeria located at 1524 Neptune Avenue (between West 15th Street and West 16th Street) in Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York. It was established in 1924 by Antonio "Totonno" Pero. History Totonno was an employee at the Lombard ...

References

Year of birth missing Year of death missing Pizza chain founders American people of Italian descent Businesspeople from New York City American food company founders Pizza in New York City {{US-business-bio-stub

See also

References