| Frank and Jeanne Finelli,
proprietors of Finelli's Italian Villa, were familiar with the
restaurant standing at 1808 Fourth Avenue in Altoona Pennsylvania.
In fact, it was a local landmark known as the Dutch Kitchen. In
1983 a blazing inferno destroyed the second and third floors and the
building was marked for demolition.
Frank shocked his family and his neighbors when
he stopped the bulldozers and claimed the burned out shell as the future
home of Finelli's Italian Villa.
The entire Finelli Family embraced Frank's
vision to build a quality Italian restaurant from the ashes of the Dutch
Kitchen. Over the next 10 years the Finell family worked doggedly
to rebuild the structure and to learn the fine points of the restaurant
business. In 1993 Finelli's Italian Villa triumphantly opened it's
doors. It remains a family backed undertaking with Frank acting as
Host and Manager while Jeanne runs the dinning room. Anthony is
the Head Chef and Amigh works behind the bar and in the dinning room.
"The restaurant is a great portrayal of
not only our ideals but also those of our children. We are so
happy and fulfilled by having our family working closely with us and we
can't imagine being anywhere else," says Jeanne. |