The Maggiore Family
The past two years have been among the busiest in the Maggiore family’s lives.
“Navigating the pandemic was unprecedented territory for all restaurateurs,” says Joey Maggiore. “Beyond that, we weathered our biggest storm, emerging stronger than ever.”
In January 2021, the family lost Tomaso Maggiore, family patriarch and the founder of Tomaso’s.
“We honor him each day by putting in the sweat equity it takes to nurture a growing culinary empire,” says Maggiore.
Pre-pandemic, the family owned and operated Tomaso’s, as well as multiple locations of Hash Kitchen, The Sicilian Baker, and The Sicilian Butcher. During the pandemic, the family opened two new locations of The Sicilian Butcher, another Hash Kitchen, and also introduced two wholly new concepts.
“My sister, Melissa, opened The Italian Daughter—with nods to our Sicilian-born father throughout the menu—in April 2021, and I opened the Mexicano—a buzzy Mexican eatery with over-the-top cocktails—in December,” says Maggiore.
The Lewkowicz Family
The Lewkowicz family’s story begins in Argentina, where Gustavo “Gus” Lewkowicz was born. After moving to the United States as a child, Philip Lewkowicz saw his father find success in leather manufacturing.
“My father entered into the family leather business, but also began teaching himself the art of cooking,” says Lewkowicz, adding that Gus would open Tribe American Leathers in Scottsdale in 1999, which he still operates today, before trying his hand at cooking professionally with the opening of Café Monarch in 2013.
Among Trip Advisors’ top three fine dining destinations nationwide, Café Monarch is a family affair, with Gus and his wife Sofia as co-CEOs; their sons Philip and Christian as its CFO and COO, respectively; and Lewkowicz’s wife Megan as its event coordinator.
Given their success, the family opened its second ultra-high-end concept, The Reserve, in 2020. The prix-fixe adventure is meant to awaken and epically delight all the senses.
The Collins Family
Starting in the 1930s, Robert Collins served as maître d’ of New York City’s Gallagher’s Steakhouse.
“First opened as a speakeasy and still standing today, Gallagher’s was the brainchild of former Ziegfeld girl Helen Gallagher, and colorful gambler, Jack Solomon,” says Collins’ great-grandson Christopher Collins.
Collins made many friends during his tenure, notably Ethel Mars of Mars Candy, who insisted on paying his son’s college tuition when she found Collins was unable to afford it.
More than 90 years later, Christopher, his brother Matthew, and father, Wally, are carrying on the culinary tradition of the family in big ways.
In 1998, Wally founded Wally’s American Gastropub, and in 2011, Matthew and Christopher, an award-winning chef, founded Common Ground Culinary. Today, the brand operates two Wally’s, Grassroots Kitchen & Tap, Twisted Grove Parlor + Bar, The Collins Small Batch Kitchen, The Macintosh, Sweet Provisions, Neighborly Public House, St. Urban, and Arcadia Catering Company.
