Dolce Vito – Dream Restaurant

Dolce Vito – Dream Restaurant was a Channel Four TV documentary following Vito Cataffo, a British-Italian restaurateur, as he tries to open a restaurant in Italy serving British cuisine.

Vito Cataffo was born in Italy, but emigrated with his family to England in 1952 when he was one year old. The family settled in Southampton, with Cataffo's father becoming a successful green grocer in the city's Bedford Place shopping street. Cataffo entered the catering industry at the age of 19, operating a small Café selling pizza. He gradually expanded, and owned his first restaurant by the age of 25, serving Italian food À la carte. Cataffo went on to own and operate a string of highly successful and award-winning restaurants in Britain, serving the Italian cuisine of his heritage. Cataffo owned five Italian restaurants in England, in Grimsby, Lincoln, Newark and elsewhere, and had a share in 30 other restaurants.

Death

After suffering many long term health issues, Cataffo was found dead at his home in Lincoln on Tuesday, 28 September 2010. His fiancee, Margharita Di Maro, stated that he was looking forward to celebrating his 60th birthday despite his deteriorating health. It is believed that the cause of death was diabetes related.

In 2009, Vito Cataffo attempted to launch a restaurant in Italy serving British cuisine. His efforts were documented in a Channel 4 TV show named Dolce Vito - Dream Restaurant. The series follows Cataffo as he finds a failing Italian restaurant, rescues and renovates it, and then sets about transforming it into a British restaurant. It also shows Cataldo meeting various producers of high-end British ingredients, and testing these products on the Italian public. Dolce Vito began to air in August 2009, and continued through to September.