They called him “Tony the Tailor.” But he was also a masterful chef of Italian cuisine, a careful gardener with a green thumb and a loving father of three. The multitalented Antonio Ventre considered two places home in his lifetime: Italy and Long Beach. He was born in Sant'Apollinare, Italy, on Sept. 16, 1940, and raised on a farm about 75 miles southeast of Rome.

As Ventre grew up, his family’s fields of vegetables grew with him, and he learned to take pride in maintaining them. In the years to come, Ventre’s family would go back and visit that farm every summer. His wife laughs remembering how their three little boys ran barefoot through the grass, chasing chickens and picking up their eggs.