Avanzatos’ Stella Luna Not Setting Yet

By LIBBY CUDMORE • HOMETOWN ONEONTA

Edition of Friday, Dec. 5, 2014

If you leafed through the real estate listings recently, you may have noticed that Oneonta landmark Stella Luna is for sale.

But don’t worry. Vinne and Tony Avanzato aren’t closing their doors yet. “If the sale takes six months, a year, 10 years, we won’t close,” said Vinne. “We’ll still make the best food in Oneonta!”

Though the listing just went public, it’s a decision that’s been in discussion since the November 2012 accident that claimed the life of the family matriarch, Giuseppa, and left Vinne with severe injuries. “My life changed that day,” he said. “I’m ready to move on from this.”

The Avanzato family rescued the Market Street train station from demolition in 2000, but their roots in Oneonta go much deeper. “Our parents, Diego and Giuseppa, brought us here from Sicily in 1966, and we had nothing,” he said. “But my father, he had a vision for his family.”

They opened the Italian Kitchen in 1972 and ran it for 36 years until 2008. For a time, the family ran both restaurants. “I worked at the Italian Kitchen and my brother ran Stella Luna,” he said. “But it was a lot of work for just one person.”

The late Mayor Dick Miller was a fan of the Avanzatos, as well as their cooking, calling the family “the American dream.”
Margaret Drugovich ate her first meal as Hartwick College president there, and in 2013, the brothers were named Hartwick’s Citizens of the Year for their contributions to Hartwick athletics, including helping save Division One soccer.

The brothers also raise money every year to take upwards of 30 disadvantaged children on a shopping trip at Christmas. “I’m not ashamed to say I’m a softie,” he said. “I’m a giver. These kids deserve a nice Christmas like we have.”

And at 59, he’s put 43 years into his cuisine. “The Avanzatos are Oneonta’s history,” he said. “We’ve established a culture here. We believe in giving people good food because we’re proud Italians. We’re sincere.”