The Boss Behind the Pasta Sauce

“I might not be able to do what HE could do, but I can do something!” That quote from John David DiCapo, the son of a Kansas City restaurant legend, gives you a glimpse into a man driven to uphold a family tradition learned from a father who spent a lifetime helping others and serving the community. 

That father, the late Carl J. DiCapo, was at the center of many positive civic and cultural developments in Kansas City history and built a restaurant empire from Italian food that lasted nearly 80 years and still has its fans. Over the past four decades, the DiCapo’s have become great friends to The Salvation Army, donating food and raising hundreds of thousands of dollars to help benefit the needy and make the holidays brighter. Now, John David is continuing to help in a unique and novel new way.  

When you grow up in the restaurant business, there’s lots of long days and nights where you meet many people and learn what resonates with hungry customers. The business demands total attention and usually involves the entire family. This is the environment of hard work and sacrifice that John David grew up in, learning many life lessons along the way. 

The renowned Italian Gardens restaurant formerly located at 11^th and Baltimore, was started in 1933 and was an institution in Kansas City for decades, hosting famous entertainers, politicians and athletes who enjoyed their authentic Italian cuisine. Many happy memories were made by Kansas Citians of a certain age who held gatherings and special dinners at the “Gardens.” The restaurant officially closed in 2003, but the Italian Gardens name and legacy have lived on. 

Anyone meeting John David for the first time instantly feels the warm presence of someone who knows a thing or two about hospitality. He spent his formative years working in the restaurant with his family and is a man that can tell lots of stories about famous people he’s met at the restaurant. From Billy Joel to other entertainers and politicians, the events of last half of the 20^thcentury crossed forks over a plate of Italian Gardens spaghetti.      

The idea to bottle Italian Gardens Pasta Sauce for charity started out with an inspiration from Newman’s Own. The salad dressing hobby and brainchild of the actor Paul Newman, Hollywood royalty who turned it into a multi-million-dollar food empire- wasn’t conceived for commercial gain but to give to friends as gifts. The idea grew into the Newman’s Own Foundation and has to date given 600 million to charitable causes. 

DiCapo thought, “if this was a good idea for Paul Newman, then why not Italian Gardens?” So he talked, cajoled, met with the grocers, decision makers, distributors, bottlers and marketers to hammer out the details of this idea. 

Thanks to Associated Wholesale Grocers and the Cosentino and the Balls families, Italian Gardens Pasta sauce is now widely available in Price chopper and Hen House stores across the metro. This promotion has already raised $2,000 dollars for Salvation Army feeding programs with more on the way.

“The DiCapo family has always supported the good people at The Salvation Army and are pleased to offer our famous Italian Gardens sauce as a way to help drive donations,” said John David DiCapo, President of DiCapo Foods. Major Xavier Montenegro, Salvation Army Kansas City Area Commander said, “We are honored that the DiCapo family has chosen this tasty way to continue to help our community.”   

In his current role as an Advisory Board member and now with the pasta sauce, John David DiCapo is keeping the tradition of service alive started by his father.