Teresa Andreoli, an Italian immigrant who became the iconic matriarch of the Stafford dining scene as the chef and operator of the Arizona restaurant on Main Street, passed away this week. She was 92. She was born on Dec. 1, 1926, in Pergola, Italy. She began to learn about food while helping her parents in their butcher shop.

She endured World War II and moved to the United States in 1948 as a newlywed with her husband, Marino Andreoli. They moved into an apartment above the Arizona and called it home for the next 58 years. She started out as a dishwasher, but a decade later she and Marino bought a 50-percent share in the place and eventually took it over in full. Teresa became not only the figurehead of the restaurant, but the chef and operator.