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Private Air New York | Spring 2015
72
PROFILE
CAVIAR
AND
COMPASSION
By: Gina Samarotto
Max Tucci opens up about growing up in
America's First Family of Fine Dining,
philanthropy and finding his own life path.
In New York in 1929, at the start of the Great
Depression and with Prohibition already in
full swing, a young man from Italy made the
risky decision to venture into the restaurant
business. e young man was Oscar Tucci,
the restaurant was Delmonico's and what
happened next would change the course of
fine dining in Manhattan.
"My grandfather had a talent for drawing
people to him and drawing the glitterati to
Delmonico's." Oscar Maximillian Mario
Carlo Julius Tucci - better known as Max
- says over lunch in Greenwich. e thirty-
something year old grandson of the iconic
restaurateur, it's clear that this younger Tucci
possesses the same brand of charm and energy
that made his grandfather so appealingly
charismatic. Gypsy Rose Lee, Lana Turner,
Eva Gabor and Red Buttons were just some
of the familiar faces often found frequenting
the famous dining room. "Delmonico's was
legendary. It was the place to be."
So what was it like for Max to grow up in one
of the most famous and revered dining rooms
in restaurant history? "I loved being there,"
Max reminisces. "My sister Nicoletta and I
would raid the pastry kitchen, swipe these
delectable desserts off the trays and then lock
ourselves in the office to devour them. My
grandparents and parents were at the center
of so much, they knew everyone and the
restaurant was a magical place. But no matter
how successful the business was, our family
always came first."
