WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES SEPTEMBER 5, 2019 19
Sixty years of slices at this R’wood pizzeria
BY MAX PARROTT
MPARROTT@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
Corato Pizza celebrated 60 years of
business on Thursday, Aug. 29 at
its satellite location, Corato Pizza
II, on Myrtle Avenue.
Local politicians including Assemblywoman
Catherine Nolan,
Assemblyman Mike Miller, state
Senator Joseph Addabbo and
Councilman Robert Holden came to
honor the establishment, share their
memories and grab a slice.
“Sixty years ago if you wanted
pizza in New York City, you’d buy
it at a bakery. My mom was a busy
mom — there were three of us. So
when Corato’s opened that was a
big day for us,” said Nolan. “It was
such a successful business because
it was delicious, convenient and
again, women were beginning to go
to work.”
In 1959, Sal Leo and Richard Ferrucci
came to America to open the
restaurant and named after the
town in Italy where they emigrated
from, bringing home recipes with
them. Corato Pizza II was opened in
1988, and bought a decade later by
Marco Cerbone, who now co-owns
it with his son, Marco Jr.
Through the restaurant’s lifespan,
the ethnic makeup of Ridgewood has
gone through some radical changes.
Nolan noted that when the original
Corato’s opened it was still primarily
a German-American neighborhood,
so the addition of authentic Italian
fare was then considered a novelty.
Cerbone said the satellite restaurant
is a relic of the 1980s when
Italians moved to the neighborhood
in greater numbers. He had immigrated
to the U.S. in 1974 and started
working at the original restaurant at
the age of 14. He and his son Marco
Jr. have come up with some of their
own recipes like his famous pasta
boscaiola, a creamy dish with mushrooms,
bacon and tomatoes.
“It was always in my blood to
be a cook and own my business,”
Cerbone said.
He added that the owners of the
original restaurant have always
treated him like family. While running
the business has been a challenge
and sacrifice at times, Cerbone
said that he received support from
the city in the early 2000s through a
storefront improvement program to
fix up their signage and bring more
customers in.
“They own the building and are
merchants. So they’re doubly invested,”
said Ted Renz, executive
director of the Myrtle Avenue
Business Improvement District that
runs from Wyckoff Avenue to Fresh
Pond Road.
Renz estimates that the restaurant
is one of the oldest in the BID.
BUZZ
Marco Cerbone Jr. takes a customer’s order at the satellite location of Corato Pizza. Photos: Max Parrott/QNS
Cerbone accepts honors from Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan, Assemblyman Mike Miller, state Senator Joe Addabbo and Councilman
Robert Holden.
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