ARTICLE

Why Did We Change our Name from DeRosa’s to DeRomo’s?

10/18/2013

Owner Francis J. Cuomo grew up in the Bronx, NY surrounded by his large family and great friends. In fact, both sets of grandparents lived only a block away from each other! Having his family so close-by allowed him to learn life values, family traditions, and the art of authentic Italian cuisine.

Francis’ passion for food grew from many Sunday family dinners at his mom’s (Nonna DeRosa) house where she, along with his grandmother, aunts, and sisters, would all cook for his very large family (Francis is the oldest son of 10 children). This family includes 5 sisters and 4 brothers, not to mention close to 50 first cousins, as well as Francis’ own 5 beautiful children: Anthony, Brianne, Francis Jr., Jenna, and Luke. Going along with family tradition, Francis’ sons are all named after men in the family — Anthony after Francis’ father, Anthony Cuomo; Francis Jr. after Francis himself, and Luke after Francis’ grandfather, Luke Cuomo.

Francis spent many of his nights enjoying both of his grandmothers’ special authentic dishes and baked goods, as well as classic family recipes for “Sunday Gravy” and “Lasagna” that his aunt Linda makes the best.  In addition, Francis has great fond memories of eating his grandmother Olympia Cuomo’s famous meatballs, where his friends would line up on Saturday afternoons to share his meatball sandwich. His grandmother made cooking seem so easy!

He was also blessed to be surrounded by his friends and their families. Their traditions also influenced and exposed him to other ethnic Italian cuisines. He remembers some nights eating dinner at home and then looking forward to going to his friends’ house to eat dinner again with them, enjoying every bite!

DeRomo's Full Family Shot

Our traditional Sunday family dinners are still as they were in the old days – filled with great family and food!

As you can see, family is extremely important to Francis and his family continues to influence him today. In fact, his mother Roseanne (also known as Nonna DeRosa) will be making some of her traditional and popular fresh baked goods in the Bake Shop in DeRomo’s Gourmet Market! As a tribute to his grandparents, Francis choose to blend the two family names – DeRosa and Cuomo – to establish DeRomo’s.

To learn more, see our What’s In a Name? page.