Gaspare Antonio Pietro "Luigi" Gatti (3 January 1875 – 15 April 1912) was an Italian businessman and restaurateur, best known as the manager of the ''À la Carte'' restaurant on the
RMS ''Titanic'', catering to passengers for whom first-class service was not exclusive enough.
Early life
Gatti was born on 3 January 1875 in
Montalto Pavese
Montalto Pavese is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Pavia in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 50 km south of Milan and about 25 km south of Pavia. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 941 and an area ...
, Italy.
He was one of eleven children born to Paolo Gatti, a local councillor and magistrate, and Maria Nascimbene.
Personal life
In 1902, at St Luke's,
Hammersmith
Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London ...
, Gatti married Edith Kate Cheese, the daughter of steward William James Cheese and his wife Emily of
Chelsea.
They had a son Luigi Victor, "Vittorio" born in 1904.
In 1902, they were living in Hammersmith, in 1911 in
Great Titchfield Street,
Marylebone
Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary.
An ancient parish and latterly a metropolitan borough, it ...
, London, and in 1912 in
Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
.
Career
Gatti owned and ran two restaurants in London, Gatti's Adelphi and Gatti's Strand.
''Olympic'' and ''Titanic'' restaurants
Gatti was already running the ''À la Carte'' restaurant on the
RMS ''Olympic'', and because of its success, ''Titanic''s ''À la Carte'' was even larger, able to seat over 150, with over 60 staff, mostly Italian and French, all employed directly by Gatti, who ran these restaurants as
concessions. For ''Titanics maiden voyage, both Gatti and his head chef on ''Olympic'' sailed to ensure the new restaurant's success.
Only first class passengers were permitted; they had to book tables in advance and pay a supplement to the first-class fare which included full board in the first-class dining room.
Even into the 1890s, dining in public was not considered socially acceptable by some in the upper classes, especially the nobility and "old money", so it was felt necessary in effect to further divide the first class passengers.
There was also a reception area for pre-dinner drinks, and a ''Café Parisien'' designed to appeal to Americans.
The ''À la Carte'' restaurant used different china and
silver plate from the main first-class restaurant.
Death
Gatti went down with the ship, dying on 15 April 1912.
Roberto Lodigiani & Pier Angelo Vincenzi, ''la Provincia Pavese'', 3 April 2012. Retrieved 6 May 2017. His body was recovered by the CS ''Minia'' between 26 April and 6 May 1912, and buried in Fairview Cemetery, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. Th ...
, Canada.
References
External links
Gaspare Antonio Pietro Gatti.
titanicdiclaudiobossi.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gatti, Luigi
1875 births
1912 deaths
Deaths on the RMS Titanic
Italian emigrants to the United Kingdom
People from Pavia
Italian restaurateurs