CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. (WKBW) — The Desiderio family has been in the restaurant industry since the late 1970s. They work with family and their extended family of staff at Bobby J's Italian American Grille in Cheektowaga. That's why brothers and co-owners Bob and Jay Desiderio sat down with their family to decide how they could help those on the front lines of this crisis.
"When we see someone in a white lab coat or scrubs we see someone in a military uniform going to battle for us," said Jay Desiderio.
When they were approached by a friend of a friend to send meals to Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital, they doubled it. To say...
"We thank you from the bottoms of our hearts. The whole Desiderio family, thank you," said Bob Desiderio.
They're focusing on staying positive, spreading that to employees, customers and the rest of the community.
"We are going to see this pandemic not as an obstacle but as an opportunity," Jay said.
They found opportunity in their family's sauce. The extra time they now have has allowed the family to start jarring their red sauce.
"We always said we wanted to jar our famous sauce. You know when you're open you never get around to it. But we're turing lemons into lemonade and we did start to jar our sauce!" said Jay.
At a time when you can't visit the Desiderio family at their restaurant, you can bring the family into your home.
"We do see the light at the end of the tunnel. We want to tell them that we all look forward to coming back even stronger," Bob said.
The brothers are sharing the same message passed on by their late father, "Salute, until we meet again."
