While the inaugural Chefs for Charity food festival on Thursday, September 26, is ostensibly a celebration of local dishes, it’s about so much more than what goes on our plates—it’s about the strength, resilience and love that make up the character of Youngstown.
Over the past few years, restaurateurs everywhere had to weather the storm of the COVID-19 pandemic, but many local restaurant owners dealt with additional challenges, including construction choking off traffic to downtown Youngstown and the tragic Realty Tower building explosion that took the life of one Chase Bank employee and left several more injured.
Yet, rather than wallow in their struggles, more than 20 chefs from around the area have come together to answer Bishop David Bonnar’s call to serve those in need. At the time of publication, 23 restaurants were scheduled to participate in the event, which will be held at the Eastwood Event Center in Niles and feature tastings from the restaurants, entertainment and more—all benefitting Catholic Charities Regional Agency.
“We all have needs. But, if we look in the mirror, if we pause to pray, I think we come to see the needs of others are so often greater than our own,” Bishop Bonnar said. “I’m humbled by their care and concern for the community, even given their own particular issues that they’re dealing with every day.”
Chefs for Charity was born from a conversation between Bishop Bonnar and Ed Moses, co-owner of the popular V2 Wine Bar & Trattoria on Federal Street. The two first met when Bishop Bonnar was a new priest and ministered at Moses’ home parish of St. Vitus (now Holy Spirit Parish) in New Castle, Pennsylvania, but it wasn’t until they both wound up here in Youngstown that they became friends.
Moses invited Bishop Bonnar to his restaurant, and it was over a shared meal that Bishop Bonnar first learned of the community of local chefs and restaurateurs that has come together for around 15 years. They keep in touch with a group chat, visit each others’ restaurants and meet once a month to support each other.
“Yeah, we’re all competitive, but when it comes to individuals … we’re all there for each other,” Moses said. “We’ll be competitive with everybody else, but not with our friends. Yeah, we might bust [chops] … but when it comes to the bottom line, we’re all here for each other.”
Moses recognizes that this kind of cooperation and unity is rare in the restaurant industry, but he chalks it up to the character of Youngstown’s restaurateurs. “It’s how we were raised—be good people, work together; that’s how we work, that’s how we become friends with everybody,” he said.
Ottavio Musumeci, chef and owner of Station Square Ristorante in Youngstown, who is from Torino, Italy, and moved to Youngstown in 1999, agreed, saying, “Youngstown reminds me a little bit of Italy. Everybody helps each other, supports each other … It is a good place to be.”
Ronald Quaranta Jr., chef and owner of Market Street’s Caffe Capri, said that many of the group’s members are bound by a shared upbringing as second- or third-generation restaurateurs whose parents also knew each other.
“For us, it’s more than just restaurant busines. It’s a true friendship and loyalty to one another,” he said. “Our challenges are out there with the corporate restaurants of the world. We’re independent local guys, we support one another, we go into one another’s establishments … we share with one another, and it’s been a great relationship.”
The other thing they share? “Craziness from being in the restaurant business!” Quaranta jokes.
It’s a common sentiment. “They’re all nuts,” Moses laughs. “I carry the group, I’m the normal one.”
Moses credits Vernon Cesta, co-owner of V2 and chef-owner of Vernon’s Café in Niles, as the driving force behind the regularly meeting group of restaurateurs. While that may be true today, Cesta said the magic all started with local legend Bill Griffin, a businessman who was well known for his philanthropic efforts and for bringing local businesses together in a spirit of cooperation. Griffin tragically passed away in 2019 at the age of 54.
“Bill Griffin put it together … It was called the ‘Valley Classics’ and it consisted of five, six, seven restaurants, and then it grew.” Cesta said. “We try to include everybody in it.”
When Bishop Bonnar—ever looking for new ways to collaborate and meet the needs of those served by the Diocese of Youngstown—learned of this community of restaurateurs, he knew there was an opportunity.
“[Moses has] been really like a brother to me and he always says, ‘If there’s anything you need, you let me know.’ Well, one day he asked me that and I said, “What would you think if we got some of the restaurant owners together and did this benefit for Catholic Charities in Mahoning Valley?” Bishop Bonnar recalls.
Moses was in. With the Bishop’s vision in mind, he quickly contacted Cesta and the two sprang into action; Moses would liaise with the diocese, while Cesta started reaching out to the restaurateurs of New Valley Classics—and beyond.
The veteran chef sent out an ominous-sounding text to the group: “The Bishop wants to talk to everybody.” Fortunately, no one thought they were in trouble, and responses in the affirmative started trickling back.
Moses said that everyone was eager to work with the Diocese of Youngstown, especially after its response to those affected by the disastrous explosion.
“When the Chase Bank building blew up, the Youngstown Diocese was there to help,” Moses said with conviction. “They placed people in hotels, nursing homes—they helped pay people’s rent who worked at Bistro 1907 [who] were behind on their rent. The Youngstown Diocese stepped up, and people gotta know that.”
Although all of Youngstown was severely impacted by the explosion, Bistro 1907—located in the Hilton DoubleTree hotel adjacent to the Realty Tower building—has likely suffered the most, as the restaurant has had to remain closed ever since due to safety concerns.
“[The diocese] reached out to us and asked if there was anything they could do,” Mark Canzonetta, chef and owner of Bistro 1907, said. “I was just thankful … there’s not a day that goes by I don’t praise God. I was born and raised a Catholic, and I still am very close with my faith with God. It would have been no problem either way, but especially now with [the diocese] helping out my team—you guys have carte blanche with me.”
Now, with the reality of the impending demolition of the Realty Tower building, Canzonetta may not be reopening the restaurant. Instead, he’s looking at opening a new restaurant that pays homage to “[his] family, [his] ethnicity and [his] faith.”
It’s certainly more of a challenge, he said, but he feels that this change is ultimately what God wants for him, his team and his family, and he hopes that the new restaurant will help revitalize Youngstown.
“[God] says He gives His toughest generals the hardest missions, and this one is difficult,” Canzonetta said, emphasizing that he’s determined to participate in the September event for Catholic Charities, regardless of what the future will bring. “My belief in God has gotten even stronger in this tragedy. Without God—nothing that is good that has happened in my life would be there without Him.”
“We want to do it for God, and we want to do it for Bishop Bonnar and his crew, because I see what they did,” Moses agreed. “God always made a way for everything—we’ll make a way for this.”
Bishop Bonnar said he has often been inspired by two abundant blessings of the Mahoning Valley—great golf courses and great restaurants. With the Annual Bishop’s Golf Classic started in 2023 and the Chefs for Charity event kicking off this year, Bishop Bonnar has found ways to extend the diocese’s blessings to those in need.
“As we move into the future, there are growing needs. We’re meeting those needs—which are largely about food and housing and guardianship—however, the needs are so great that it’s affecting what we have,” Bishop Bonnar said. “Given the need, it just made me all the more determined to really try and assemble an intentional group of people for this cause.”
Many of the chefs agreed that, while they’d had their fair share of struggles, it was an honor to be able to give back to the community that patronizes them.
“I’m elated to be able to do it in the first place,” said Cesta. “If we can do something to help the community out, we’re there for it. And we do it in other ways too, not just this … it’s gonna be an event that hopefully we can continue . . . and this will go on for a long time.”
In mid-July, at one of the final planning sessions before the event, the restaurateurs one-by-one burst through the door and circled around the room, shaking hands, cracking jokes and embracing each other.
A seemingly unending cavalcade of food was brought forth from the kitchen of V2—trays upon trays were laid out on the ever-shrinking tabletop space: sausage and peppers, chicken parmigiana sandwiches, calamari and of course, meatballs. Moses patrolled the feast, doling out unsolicited servings of his favorite dishes and heaping food precariously on already-full plates. The friends laughed unreservedly, pounding the table and sending napkins billowing across the expansive stretch of banquet.
They discussed business intermittently, and the freshly printed fliers and branded t-shirts for Chefs for Charity were distributed. But really, this lunch was another check-in between friends.
Salvatore Coppola of Salvatore’s Italian Grille revealed that, while the friendship and collaboration between the restaurateurs is genuine, there is still a little competitiveness—but only in a good way.
“We’ve been so blessed in our business, and I think it’s the spirit of a good Catholic … to learn to give. And we were challenging ‘who’s gonna give more?’” he said with a laugh.
With space in the Eastwood Event Center generously donated by Anthony Cafaro, visitors can pay a flat fee of $75 to enter the food festival and enjoy tasting-sized signature dishes from some of the most iconic restaurants in Youngstown and Mahoning Valley, including V2 Wine Bar & Trattoria, Station Square Ristorante, Anejo Mexican Restaurant and Cantina, and Bistro 1907, among many more. The full list can be found and tickets can be purchased online.
“I hope everybody can try all the food, because it’s all gonna be good in the first place,” Cesta said. “I just tell people they gotta pace themselves if they’re gonna try everything!”
In addition to the dizzying quantity of food serving as the event’s main attraction, there will be live music provided by Backbeat with John Reese, a cash bar and raffles.
Proceeds from the event will go directly to the Catholic Charities Regional Agency, which serves Columbiana, Mahoning and Trumbull counties, with many programs combatting homelessness and unstable housing.
As great Catholic author G.K. Chesterton wrote: “The pint, the pipe and the cross all fit together.” As Catholics, we celebrate and fast in equal measure—we endure the hard times and enjoy the good. After a long period of cross-bearing in the city of Youngstown, Chefs for Charity offers the opportunity to come together and celebrate Youngstown’s strength and resilience with good food, good drinks and good friends.
“I think that really is a beacon of hope for me, that we have a group of people who are on the same playing field, so to speak, but who deeply care about each other,” said Bishop Bonnar. “I find that so hopeful and heartwarming for this community. That’s how we’re supposed to be. It just speaks volumes about their understanding of life and the dignity of every human person.”
