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Angelo Domenico Giovanazzi (Obituary)
Angelo became widely acknowledged as one of Glasgow's finest Italian restaurateurs, and when he founded La Parmigiana on Glasgow's Great Western Road in 1978, little did he know it was to become the success it is today.
Angelo was born in Cowcaddens in April April 1935. His father, Giovanni, had emigrated to Scotland before the First World War from Borgotaro, a small town in the western Apennines in the province of Parma. After the war, Giovanni opened Philadelphia, a fish & chip shop at St George's Cross which named after the American city to which his brother had emigrated.
In 1939, on a family holiday to Italy, four-year-old Angelo and his mother found themselves stranded, unable to return to Scotland due to the outbreak of the Second World War, while his father managed to return to Glasgow to run his fish & chip shop. Angelo and his mother remained in Italy until 1947.
Following his father's death in 1954, Angelo took over the running of the family business at the age of 19 and it was around this time that he met Maria Cacchioli, whom he married in 1956.
Their first son, Sandro, was born in Glasgow in 1957. A daughter, Loredana, followed in 1961 and Stefano was born in 1966. Both sons followed in their father's footsteps and have been running the family's restaurants for many years.
When it came to food, Angelo's philosophy had always been to use the best quality produce, based on the belief that it is only by using quality ingredients that the best dishes can be prepared and served.
Paperino's, a pizzeria, opened in Sauchiehall Street in 1991. Although the atmosphere is less formal than that at La Parmigiana, the philosophy concerning the requirement for quality ingredients remains intact. The success of the original Paperino's led to the opening of a sister restaurant, Paperino's West End on Byres Road last summer.
Throughout all his catering ventures, Angelo stuck consistently with what he did best; making real Italian food from traditional recipes passed down through succeeding generations of the Giovanazzi family. Perhaps that helps explain why La Parmigiana and Paperino's are so popular among Glasgow's Scottish Italian community and Italian tourists in search of some genuine native cuisine.
In July 2000, Angelo was presented with a Medaghia D'oro, a gold medal awarded to him by the mayor of Borgotaro out of recognition of his role in the foreign promotion of Borgotaro, the region of Parma and its products.
He died of heart failure on 3 June aged 71 and is survived by his wife Maria, his sons Sandro and Stefano, daughter Loredana and nine grandchildren. He is fondly remembered as a family man who doted on his grandchildren, and a gourmet who lived life to the full.
This article has been edited from the original. To view the feature in full, please see Catering in Scotland magazine. To join our database, go to Media Pack on this website and click on Subscribe.
