Few of the lovey-dovey customers eating at Ribalta this Valentine's Day will have as romantic a story as that of Rosario Procino, the man making their pizza.
It begins in 1996 when Rosario and friends were vacationing in a Calabrian resort town, about 200 miles from their home city of Naples.
"I was hanging out, having fun, and I kept seeing this beautiful American girl named Patricia," remembers 44-year-old Rosario. "I was an Italian macho, so I introduced myself. Our first date was at a bonfire on the beach."
Far too soon, though, Patricia's holiday ended and she glumly headed home to Harrison, NY, in Westchester.
A week later, she called Rosario and told him to be at the airport the following morning; she'd be catching the next night-flight back.
That time, she stayed for two months. At the year's end, Rosario visited Patricia and her family in Harrison. The young lovers ricocheted between Naples and Westchester.
Along the way, Patricia, of Italian descent, got exposed to world-class pizza, fresh Mediterranean seafood and buffalo mozzarella. She fell in love with the food and with the man. "Food has been very important to our relationship," Patricia says, adding that New York pizza required an adjustment for Rosario.
Rosario Procinio and wife Patricia.Photo: Courtesy of Rosario Procinio
"He said, 'You've got to be kidding. This tastes like focaccia.' He told me that one day he would do it his way."
A couple years in, Rosario proposed at sunset on a beach in Positano. Their wedding took place in Westchester and was American in style, but Rosario was a stickler about the cuisine.
"I was so picky, making sure everything was authentic," he says, recalling raw shellfish appetizers, pasta in a simple sauce of fresh tomatoes with clams, and roasted branzino.
"The guy from the catering hall still remembers me. I drove him crazy."
In 2009, happily married and a father, having worked through uninspiring stints in the telecom and food industries, Rosario decided to make good on his pizza promise. While a few places in town produced Neapolitan pizza at the time, he felt that they lacked the right crust, chew and authentic ingredients — not to mention the touch of a local.
Rosario Procino in Ribalta with his signature Neapolitan pizza.Photo: Brian Zak
"I found a talented pizzaiolo, ordered a wood oven from Italy and opened Kesté right across from John's on Bleecker Street," he says.
"It introduced New York to true Neapolitan pizza and inspired others."
The glove-box-size restaurant snagged rave reviews and turned into thin-crust mecca before Rosario sold his pizzeria in 2012 and opened the much larger Ribalta, with its expansive menu, World-Cup-worthy TV screen and lively vibe. He created what he likes to call "a Neapolitan embassy." It would have been impossible, Rosario says, without Patricia. "She encouraged me to take a chance and follow my dream."
Nevertheless, Patricia has some competition for her husband's heart — even on Valentine's Day. "In Naples, we eat pizza for breakfast, lunch and dinner," Rosario says. "So it's been a love affair with my wife for 15 years and with pizza for 40."
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