About the Guido’s

In 1886, our great grandfather Francesco Castiglione (shown top left along with his three brothers and younger sister) emigrated from Calabria to purchase the Castiglione Farm along the Hudson River on Ulster Landing Road. They raised tomatoes, zucchini, basil, figs, parsley, berries, nuts, eggplant and peppers, along with the best grain-fed veal, beef and pork. We continue our ancestors’ tradition of using the highest quality, freshest ingredients. Though the farming was discontinued in the 1960’s, the land is still in our family, owned by our cousin, Salvatore Castiglione.

Mary Buonfiglio-Mayone (shown here with her husband John, daughter Rose Mayone-Sasso and son Joe) prepared traditional thin-crust Neopolitan pizza for her family every Friday evening, when Friday’s were meatless. Our pizza is prepared exactly like Grandma Mayone’s in our brick oven.

Francesco’s daughter, Mary Castiglione-Olivet (shown here with her husband Frank and daughters, the future Tessie Mauro, Rosie Berardi and Mary Guido) believed cooking comes from the heart. Using the freshest and highest quality ingredients, Nonna Mary handed down traditional recipes to her daughters who passed these recipes along for us to share with you.

Our menu reflects recipes not only from family, but from friends as well. Mama Fiore, who operated Mama Fiore’s 5 and 10 Restaurant in our Italian neighborhood of East Kingston, was a wonderful cook. The meatballs and stuffed peppers we serve are Mama Fiore’s recipes.

James and Theresa Secreto emigrated from Cosenza to Glasco in the early 1900s. Theresa passed down her “baked chicken in the oven” and soup recipes to her daughter, Fanny Secreto-Mayone (shown here on the right with her sister-in-law Dee Parise). Fanny’s daughter, Gail Guido, prepares these dishes exactly as her Grandmother Theresa did 100 years ago.

Our paternal grandparents emigrated directly from Naples around the turn of the century. Jerome and Theresa Sisco-Guido were also instrumental in our cooking. Our marinara sauce and many traditional seafood recipes come directly from our Neopolitan-Guido heritage.

Aunt Betty Secreto-Gambino, Nana Fanny’s sister, (shown here on the left with her sister-in-law, Theresa Secreto, her mother, and her sister Mary Francella) made the best eggplant parmigiana in Glasco. We are proud to serve this authentic hearty dish.

“Papa Joe” Amato (shown here with his wife, Katie, and his son “Red”) is a legend in the Kingston area. A man’s man, Joe was also an established cook. We thank the Amato family for sharing Papa Joe’s recipe for his soul-warming traditional tomato sauce.

In 2001, Dina Guido married Carmine Ercolano (shown here with Mark Guido, Phil Rizzuto, Rocco Columbo and Antonino Ercolano) who arrived in the U.S. from Sorrento in 1989. Carmine, who owns Il Riccio Ristorante in NYC, comes from a long line of great Italian cooks. He and his family, who are still in Sorrento, have had a great influence on our cooking. Whenever the late Phil Rizzuto dined at our home or one of our restaurants, his favorite dish was Carmine’s zuppa de pesce.