JOE VICARI OFFERS EAST SIDE BANQUET CENTER FOR VETERAN’S POSTER SIGNING 7.2.09

Dynamic Joe Vicari, president and CEO of Andiamo Italia, is as serious about the sacrifices made by World War II veterans as he is about food.  “People,” he maintains, “are an equal passion for me.”

Vicari has another, deeply personal reason to be moved by the gathering of these aging vets in his Warren restaurant: his father was one. 

“My dad’s no longer with us, regrettably,” says Joe,  “but what he’s left me is a work ethic, a love of family, and of course, endless fond memories.  I have tried to incorporate him into every aspect of my life, and as far as I am concerned, that’s the greatest legacy of the greatest generation.  Being here, with these vets today, reminds me of him.”
Among the attendees was Paul Buscemi, who enlisted at the war’s beginning along with most of his east side buddies.  “When I came back after the war ended,” Buscemi notes, “It turns out I was the only one who survived.”

As we proudly documented in Our Italian Story, Vicari’s culinary empire houses a team of more than 1,000 employees and ranks as Michigan’s largest independent restaurant group with eleven restaurants now crowning the dynasty.  Vicari first opened Andiamo Italia Warren in 1990, and has since expanded the banquet facility by 20,000 square feet.  As such, it was a fitting backdrop to the veterans who came on July 2nd to sign the historic photograph of gathered World War II vets which took place on May 28th at Willow run airport.  More than eight hundred veterans showed up at that session and were photographed before the B-17 ‘Yankee Lady’ which the Yankee Air Museum has fully restored and will play a significant Role in Detroit: Our Greatest Generation, set to air on WDIV-TV in December 2009.

The signed, poster-sized photograph of over eight hundred World War II veterans is destined for the White House as a personal gift from Detroit, the ‘Arsenal of Democracy’ to President Barack Obama.  The intention is that the signed photo will be presented to President Obama during his visit to Detroit in July, or later at a special ceremony in Washington D.C.nd who went on to survive the entire month-long battle.  His story will be told as a part of Detroit: Our Greatest Generation set to air on WDIV-TV in December, 2009.