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"Way to
Channel
Julia Child"
BEST
KITCHEN SUPPLY STORE
-Philadelphia
Magazine, Aug 2011
Page Contents:
-Fante's History
-Our Staff
-Some of Our Friends,
Visitors & Benefactors
Related Pages:
-9th St Italian Market
-Store Hours & Directions
THANK YOU FOR VISITING US TODAY
History of Fante's
What we do...
  We specialize in the sale of kitchen utensils for both professional
chefs and home cooks.
Our Philadelphia store includes a full selection of cookware,
cutlery and many thousands more quality products. On this website, we
narrow the focus to specialized utensils, many of which are not readily
available elsewhere.
We try to provide you with concise information about all our
products, together with many guides and manuals.
We
do our best to always provide good quality, good value, and personal
support even after the sale.
Who we are...
Fante's is a family owned and operated retail business, located in the heart
of Philadelphia's historic Italian Market since 1906.
Luigi and Carmela
with their children
Rose, Teresa, Frank,
Dominic, Josephine
1912
Fante's delivery cart
Little Dominic is
seated in the cart
Fante's storefronts are
next to Monticelli's
1925
Boy Scout Troop 363
Dom - Scoutmaster
Early 1940's
Dominic Fante
in showroom - 1973
Louis Fante
in workshop - 1973
Italian immigrants Luigi L. Fante, Sr. (born 24 Oct 1878 in Torricella)
and his father Domenico Fante (born 23 Jul 1854 in Torricella), a stone
mason, founded Fante's, and their entire extended family was devoted to
the operation of the business.
Luigi led the business after his father's passing. He was known as a dutiful
member of the community, and he was recognized for having fought hard for
human rights for the underprivileged in the neighborhood.
When Luigi passed away, early in the life of the business, it was passed
on to his wife and to their sons Dominic, Frank and Louis. Dominic also
took on his father's role as a very active member of the community.
Together with their sisters Rose, Josephine and Theresa,
and their spouses, they strived to keep their respected business prospering
by constantly varying it to meet the changing demand for products and services.
They made venetian blinds, installed entire kitchens, sold furnishings, imported
china, crystal and other goods from Europe.
During the second World War, when goods for resale were hard to come by,
they purchased distressed goods, repaired and resold them. During this
time, the addition of a plethora of items for the kitchen made Fante's famous
as a popular stop for these goods.
One of the family members, Jeanne Fante, brought back expertise and
tools from France, England and Australia that made Fante's the only place
in the area, and probably in the entire country, where pastry chefs could
readily obtain equipment for decorating cakes. Courses offered in the art
of cake decorating to chefs and restaurateurs became very fashionable.
In
the early 1960's, Fante's mail order catalog contained a wealth of hard
to find goods and was successfully sought after by cooks throughout the
country. Many articles were written about the unusual kitchen goods that
could be found there, and Fante's became a virtual mecca for chefs and
cooks from around the world.
In April 1981, the Fante family retired, and the baton was passed on to
Mariella Giovannucci, then acting General Manager of the store. The families
became acquainted in the mid 1960's, when the Giovannucci's emigrated from
northern Italy to Philadelphia. Dominic Fante, in his customary generous
role, was instrumental in helping the new immigrants adjust to our new
culture, and employed Mariella and her siblings for after-school work.
Under the guidance of the Giovannucci family, Fante's direction became
even more focused on goods for the preparation and service of food.
A renowned Philadelphia tradition, Fante's
is nationally acknowledged as one of the finest in the housewares industry.
Over the years, Fante's continues to receive recognition from countless
newspaper, magazine, and web articles, as well as from food related programs
on television and radio.
Famous chefs and cookbook writers make it a point
to stop at the original Italian Market store when in Philadelphia, and
you'll find Fante's listed as a resource in many of their books.
We are
proud to serve our clients in the Philadelphia area and throughout the
United States.
Also see our history by the Historical
Society of Pennsylvania
Top
Note of Interest:
Nicola, father of famous American author John Fante, as well as Luigi
and Domenico Fante, came from Torricella, in the Italian region of Abruzzi,
and may have been related.
Some Fante genealogy finds:
Domenico Fante, b. 7/23/1854;
father: Filippo Fante; mother: Maria Fantini; paternal grandfather:
Domenico Fante 1
1876 Domenico Fante marries Camilla Palizzi 2
Luigi Fante, b. 10/24/1878; parents Domenico Fante and Carmela Palizzi 3
John Fante b. 4/8/1909, Denver, CO; parents: Nicola Fante and Mary
Capolungo 4
Nicola Fante, b. 1885; arrived 18-Sep-1901 Ellis Island;
destination: Denver, CO 5
1
http://www.torricellapeligna.com/Gen-Birth%20Acts-Index-1809-1857-MASTER_files/Gen-Birth%20Acts-Index1854.htm
2
http://www.torricellapeligna.com/Gen-Marriage%20Acts-Index-byYear.htm
3
http://www.torricellapeligna.com/Gen-Birth%20Acts-Index-1873-1897-MASTER_files/Gen-Birth%20Acts-Index-1878.htm
4
http://johnfante.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Fante
5
http://www.torricellapeligna.com/ImmigrantListIndex_files/ImmigrantList-EtoL.htm#_top
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Our staff...
Mariella
Alice
Nadia |
Mariella,
family members and staff welcome you to our store, where we are always happy
to offer you our helpful knowledge and expertise.
Many of
us have been with the company more than a quarter century, and a number
of us have backgrounds in the field of foodservice.
Mariella, our President, and everyone's mother and sister, manages our staff
of usually about two dozen people. Most
live in our immediate neighborhood, work full-time, and receive healthcare,
vacation, and other benefits.
Our hours of operation reflect the family nature of our business.
Although we, like all humans, are not perfect, we know that we couldn't do
without you, so we always do our best to fix our mistakes, and to treat
you with the respect that you and all of us rightly deserve. Really! |
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Some of our famous friends, visitors, and benefactors over the years...
Mary Ann Esposito and Dad
Lidia Bastianich with Mariella
Rose Levy Beranbaum
Christina Pirello
Emeril Lagasse
Jacques Pepin
Helen Chen
Jeff Smith,
Craig Woolam,
and our family
Jeff Smith with
Mayor Goode and Alice
Dom DeLuise with Nadia
Nick Malgieri
Marcia Adams
Julia Child
Julia Child with
Allan Kalish, Judy Faye, and Daniele
Giuliano Bugialli
Aliza Green
Guy Fieri with Nadia
Tony Luke Jr
Lorenza De Medici
with Dad and Daniele
Amy Coleman
Two Hot Tamales:
Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger
Curtis Aikens and Marianne
Barbara Kafka
Biba Caggiano
Mario Batali
Philip Margolis
The Marcato Family and Dad
Biker Billy
Natalie MacLean
Merle Ellis
Martin Yan
Nathalie Dupree
Ming Tsai
Leslie Land
La Carmina
Eric Miller
A Chef & His Library
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