Caesar Cardini

Caesar Cardini was born as Cesare Cardini in Baveno, a comune on the shore of Lago Maggiore in Northwest Italy, and had seven siblings: Bonifacio, Annibale, Nereo, Alessandro, Carlotta, Gaudenzio and Maria. While the sisters, Bonifacio, and Annibale stayed in Italy, the other three brothers emigrated to America; Nereo opened a small hotel near the casino in Santa Cruz, California;"Nereo F. Cardini goes to Tijuana." Santa Cruz Sentinel (Santa Cruz, California) 22 Sep 1935, pg 8. Alessandro and Gaudenzio eventually were in the restaurant business in Mexico City. Alessandro, called Alex in the US, is reported to have been Caesar's partner in Tijuana, Mexico. Cesare sailed as a steerage passenger on board the RMS Olympic which arrived at the Port of New York on May 1, 1913. After inspection at Ellis Island, he boarded a train bound for Montreal.

Cesare eventually returned to Italy but came back to the United States in 1919.[http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=8945 Washington, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1882-1961] With his partner William Brown, he ran Brown's Restaurant in Sacramento,Advertisement, Sacramento Union, December 13, 1919, pg 2. then moved to San Diego. At that time, he established the first of several restaurants in Tijuana, where he could avoid the restrictions of Prohibition. He married the musician Camille D. Stump on August 27, 1924, in Santa Ana, California. The couple had one daughter, Rosa Maria Cardini (1928–2003).{{cite news |title= Rosa Cardini |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/09/22/db2203.xml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012180838/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/09/22/db2203.xml |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 12, 2007|work=The Daily Telegraph |date=September 21, 2003 |accessdate=2007-07-21 }}

Cardini is credited with creating Caesar salad in 1924. Guests regularly crossed the California border to Tijuana for alcohol, not legally available in the U.S. during prohibition, and came to dine at Caesar's restaurant. According to a 1987 interview with his daughter Rosa, on July 4, 1924, they came in such numbers that Caesar "simply wasn't prepared for that many people" and he improvised by making the salad "to give the dinner guests a show as well as a meal", putting together the ingredients in the middle of the dining room.[https://www.newspapers.com/article/honolulu-star-bulletin-rosa-cardini-cae/89338146/ "Caesar hailed— His salad's never tossed out"], by Jeanne Ambrose, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, June 3, 1987, p.E-1 It soon became fashionable among Hollywood celebrities, especially after he had moved his restaurant a few blocks to the hotel, which was built around 1929 (nowadays called Hotel Caesar's).

After the repeal of the Volstead Act and the Mexican government's enactment of a ban on gambling, business from tourism to Tijuana drastically fell off.San Diego Union, July 22, 1935; July 23, 1935; June 19, 1936. La Prensa, July 27, 1935. Cardini quit his Mexican businesses in 1936San Diego Union, July 1, 1936. Los Angeles Times, July 2, 1936. and moved back to San Diego to establish the Caesar Cardini Cafe."Cafe Operator Remodels Downtown Corner." San Diego Evening Tribune, September 16, 1936. Grand opening display ad, San Diego Union, September 18, 1936. See also "Caesar Cardini Cafe." [http://classicsandiego.com/restaurants/caesar-cardini-cafe/ Classic San Diego: tasty bites from the history of San Diego]. Web. For several years, he operated Tavern Hacienda in San Diego, the Beacon Inn in Cardiff-by-the-Sea and his own Caesar Cardini Villa in Chula Vista.

The family moved to Los Angeles about 1938 and Cardini focused on the production and marketing of his salad dressing which he trademarked in 1948. He died in Good Samaritan Hospital on November 3, 1956, in Los Angeles following a stroke at his home at 8738 Bonner Drive and was buried in Inglewood Park Cemetery.{{cite news |title=Caesar Cardini Funeral |work=Los Angeles Times |date= November 7, 1956}} Accessed 2007-07-23.See details and a picture of his gravestone at [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSvcid=4762&GRid=21732& Findagrave] His daughter took control of Caesar Cardini Foods Inc."At the age of 10, Rosa helped to bottle her father's famous recipe, which the family sold from their station wagon at Los Angeles' Farmers Market after moving from San Diego." [https://archive.today/20070623105247/http://journals.aol.com/cdawriter/LifeInMyOpinion/ (From a 1987 interview with Rosa Cardini)] Later, the Cardini's brand was sold, and is now owned by the T. Marzetti specialty salad dressing company. It is still popular and offers more than a dozen varieties of the original recipe.See Cardini's Salad Dressings Product Info [http://www.cardinissaladdressing.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210195809/http://www.cardinissaladdressing.com/|date=2018-02-10}} product details.

In Tijuana, Caesar's Restaurant and Bar on Avenida Revolución,Tijuana tourism board: Restaurant

[http://www.seetijuana.com/english/where-to-dine.php?id_dine=6&id_gallery=3 Caesar's Palace] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070919052229/http://www.seetijuana.com/english/where-to-dine.php?id_dine=6&id_gallery=3 |date=2007-09-19 }}, 8131 Revolucion Ave. [...] now under Baja Med celebrity chef Javier Plascencia, serves the "original Caesar's salad".{{cite web |title=Caesar's - Grupo Plascencia |url=http://www.caesarstijuana.com/ |website=www.grupoplascencia.com |access-date=3 January 2021}}

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Category:1896 births

Category:1956 deaths

Category:Mexican people of Italian descent

Category:Italian chefs

Category:Mexican chefs

Category:People from Tijuana

Category:Burials at Inglewood Park Cemetery

Category:Mexican restaurateurs

Category:Italian emigrants to the United States

Category:20th-century Mexican businesspeople

Category:Caesar salad