by Kim Ode

When troops from Minneapolis began returning home after World War II, they discovered they missed one thing about Europe. Sliding into booths at the Casino Cafe on North 7th, they'd ask owner and chef James Graziano if he could make them a pizza. Graziano had begun his cooking career while in the service, feeding troops going through boot camp at Fort Snelling. He wanted to oblige the returning soldiers, so he began trying to make pizza worthy of his Sicilian heritage.

"He burned out a couple of standard ovens that couldn't stay hot enough," said his son, Daniel, of the necessary 500-plus degrees. Undaunted, Graziano traveled to a Chicago trade show and returned with an authentic pizza oven. In 1945, his cafe became the first in Minneapolis to serve pizza. "That's what we were always told, anyway," Daniel said of his father, who died Dec. 13 in Minneapolis, a month short of turning 100.

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Source: http://www.startribune.com/