John Zaccheo buona Cucina! (People).

• Author: Basden, Casey

SECOND-GENERATION ITALIAN-AMERICAN John Zaccheo comes from a large Italian family -- a solid background for operating a traditional Italian restaurant. Armed with his family's recipes and memories of many conversation-filled meals surrounded by relatives and friends, Zaccheo created two successful restaurants, the most recent being Mr. Z's Cucina Italiana. Being a businessman was second nature for this 75-year-old, but being a restaurateur was not necessarily a given.

After 23 years working for a civil engineering company, Zaccheo was poised for promotion. "My boss was going to retire, and I was told and promised that I would be given the vice president's position." To Zaccheo's dismay, the company fell short of its promises. "When that day came, they reduced the department in half, and they changed the title from vice president of engineering to general manager of engineering." His budget was also slashed, and Zaccheo felt that there was no room for advancement at the company.

Instead of moving up, Zaccheo simply moved. He retired from engineering, and he, his wife, Jeanne, and their family decided to relocate to Salt Lake to indulge in their love of skiing. "And then the question was, 'What would I do?'" Zaccheo recalls. After looking around Salt Lake, Zaccheo found his answer: He would try his hand at being a restaurateur. Zaccheo dove in and opened his first restaurant. Hansom House (later changed to Zaccheo's Ristorante to better reflect its character), specializing in Chicago-style, or Neapolitan, deep-pan pizza. Twenty-two successful years later, Zaccheo received an offer he could not refuse.

"I didn't intend to sell, but the offer was really lucrative, and I had to accept the fact that somebody wanted it that badly," he says. Zaccheo once again retired, but he couldn't resist sharing his love of Italian cuisine. Two-and-a-half years later. Mr. Z's Cucina Italiana was born.

"I wanted to get into true Italian food, and I...