Somewhere, sometime in the seventies, a passion for Jazz and Blues brought Claudio Marchesan to the U.S. As a young man who had grown up in the Northern Italian town of Grado, a popular holiday resort, Claudio's natural instinct was to become an entertainer of some sort.

But before he could pursue his dreams, his father, Vittorio, a musician himself, who had inspired Claudio's passion for music, sat him down and said: "it's all fine and dandy with the music, kid, but you'll have to learn something else if you want to put food on the table."

Young Claudio enrolled in a prestigious cooking school in Rome, run at the time by the famous chef, Giovanni Caruso, himself a pupil of the great Escoffier. It turned out to be a wise move, a perfect complement to Claudio's idyllic childhood that included a farm, a fish store, and a large extended family with a passion for history, tradition, and good food.

After a decade-long fling with music in the U.S., the moment came for Claudio to apply his culinary training, and he took it. He worked with the team that led the transformation of Italian cuisine in America, conceiving Prego in San Francisco, Beverly Hills, and Irvine, and then participating in the creation of Chianti & Cucina, Spiedini, Spuntino, and then moving on to the realization of the widely-recognized Il Fornaio.

When the time was right, Claudio finally opened his own restaurant. And so was born Pane e Vino, first in Montecito, Santa Barbara, then in San Francisco, and then -- fulfilling a long-time dream with friend and partner Rod Dyer, graphic designer extraordinaire -- in Los Angeles.

Above all, Claudio has brought to America the melody of Italian cuisine, with its romance, authenticity, and wonderful traditions, Grazie, Vittorio.