Chef Silvio Suppa along with his wife Vittoria
formed the backbone of Del Monaco's, the legendary eatery
that dominated New Haven’s Wooster Street from 1972
to 1997. With celebrities, politicians and people from NY
flocking to Del Monaco's for his signature Mediterranean
dishes, Chef Silvio became a celebrity in his own right!
The owner of Café Allegre in Madison for the past
10 years, and The Woodwinds banquet facility in Branford
since 2006, his beloved Mediterranean classics live on!
Culinary Background & Influence….
Born in Benevento, Italy, he became passionate about cooking
at a very early age. His mother became ill and bedridden
for months when he was just 8 years old. His father and
brothers would go off to work, leaving Silvio with his grandmother
to tend to the house. Silvio learned how to make soups,
sauces and pasta dishes from his grandmother as he began
to take on more and more responsibilities in the kitchen.
He also discovered that food can be healing as he helped
his grandmother make chicken soup for his mother while he
also enjoyed the creativity process in his kitchen.
“Back then we didn’t go to the market, our
backyard was the market. We would pick our own fruit and
vegetables, chickens were available, along with fresh herbs
for our meals.”
At age 20 he came to America and at 22 he was working at
Del Monaco’s alongside Internationally and Award winning
Chefs from Naples and Milan. One chef came from the prestigious
Cordon Bleu in Paris, France, and Silvio’s Mediterranean
cooking experience expanded due to the hands-on learning
and doing method. His mother-in-law (Del Monaco) was also
an influential teacher for young Silvio.
Chef Silvio and his wife Vittoria ran Del Monaco’s
famed restaurant for 25 years before opening Café
Allegre in Madison, CT.